Kantha pioneer Shamlu Dudeja’s Alipore Park Road home was abuzz with activity on February 11 evening. The garden lit up beautifully was adorned with kantha panels and filled with excited chatter and anticipation with the stage all set for the members of the Young Indians Calcutta chapter to walk in Malika’s Kantha Collection. Loud applause greeted the 22 members who were styled by Pinky Kenworthy in kantha reinvented. Called Sip & Sew with Malika’s Kantha Collection, it was an initiative by Vocal for Handmade, a vertical supported by the Young Indians Calcutta chapter “to service rural artisans under the umbrella of rural initiatives in collaboration with various other key stakeholders and verticals” at Young Indians Calcutta. Postshow, The Telegraph sat down with Malika Dudeja Varma of Malika’s Kantha Collection, Shamlu Dudeja, Pinky Kenworthy, Rohit Patni, chairman, Young Indians Calcutta chapter, Shweta Agarwal, Vocal For Handmade chair and Varsha Kejriwal, Vocal For Handmade joint chair, for a quick chat on the collab and more.
Malika, how did the entire collaboration come about?
I have to thank Young Indians because I feel a show like this should be for 500 people. Nothing that I asked for did I not get and that made it a bespoke event. The learning was that when we are on this side of the fence, we think everybody knows everything about the craft but there is a lot of work to be done. I got charged up because of these two girls (Varsha Kejriwal and Shweta Agarwal). I think they need to take this to a national level because it’s done so well and of course mom’s (Shamlu Dudeja) blessings and Pinky’s (Kenworthy) styling and with all your support Rohit (looks at Rohit), it’s been awesome.
This is a new collection, with them standing on my head (laughs) and my poor tailor going crazy (laughs). There is a lot of work to be done and there is a lot that these guys can do. I am privileged that my daughters (Saumya and Mahima), at 27 and 25, have been exposed to this and choose to wear kantha with what they have seen with their grandmother.... My mother has worked hard for so many years and we have over a thousand artisans and how do we sustain them if we don’t have this kind of support?
Varsha Kejriwal and Shweta Agarwal struck a pose
And, the only way to take this forward is to give it a modern language...
I feel so. Of course, we have to save the sari and we need people to wear it, but let it survive at any cost. We will work harder. It has to fit all shapes and sizes and that for me is imperative.
The inimitable Pinky Kenworthy who styled the Young Indians Calcutta chapter members and choreographed the walk, with kantha revivalist Shamlu Dudeja, founder of Self Help Enterprise (SHE). We loved how Pinky styled the kantha pieces with a hairband and boots. #SoChic
The talented artisans at Sip & Sew with Malika’s Kantha Collection
Rohit, why was it essential for you to come on board?
Vocal for Handmade was actually a national project. It was a vertical but was suddenly removed... and the girls had an agenda that we would make it so important with the events we do that it would make it back as a vertical. It is so important to curate evenings like these. Today, I am telling you everyone is amazed. Kantha wasn’t a part of my dictionary and I am so embarrassed. This divide needs to be bridged.
Shweta and Varsha, tell us about pulling off this evening...
Shweta: Varsha and I both feel passionately for the cause. We started Vocal for Handmade three years ago and last year when we went to Santiniketan, we realised we didn’t know about what was so close to home. So, we started this year by taking them on a tour of Dakshinapan. So many people hadn’t been to Dakshinapan before that.
Malika: Varsha started buying kantha from me three years ago on WhatsApp and I thought she was a much older person! Shweta: We’ve been trying to do this since last year, but we definitely did not think our audience was ready for this. So, we built on it slowly....
Varsha: We have to start the culture of gifting handmade...
Malika: Conscious gifting...
Varsha: My daughter is 16 and my son is 13. I am a collector of textiles and I love saris, but never found a way of passing them on to my daughter. I had taken a jumpsuit from Malikadi and my daughter didn’t want to try it, but she saw it today and she said she would love to.
Pinky: At the end of the day you want to lure the youngsters to your tradition and fashion is the only way
The Young Indians Calcutta chapter members walked in beautiful Malika’s Kantha Collection pieces, to loud cheers from the audience
And, Pinky, there was your signature touch to the styling...
Pinky: Firstly, my love and passion for fashion...
Malika: Her love and passion is mom...
Pinky: (Laughs) You know I love saris, weaves and traditional embroidery. To interest the generation that will carry it forward is to modernise it. I did a lot of drapes with saris which don’t look like saris. Once you’ve worn it, it is like a dress. If we don’t save this craft, we will see it in the museum one day. I learnt that about 10 years back from a weaver. He wasn’t able to feed his family because people were not wearing saris. Literally look around, who is wearing saris any more? But what I’d like to say is you can always wear it in a cool, new way. This is a great step and we need people to do this, especially in positions where they can have a sort of influence... make it fashionable. Make it if you want to make hot pants or swimsuits out of kantha!
Gouri Basu, consultant, ministry of culture, government of India, felicitated the kantha artisans. “It’s really nice that Malika has taken it forward from Shamludi and by making it more contemporary fashion, I think more people are going to appreciate kantha, something that was not happening earlier. It is basically women empowerment, tribal empowerment and also youth empowerment,” smiled Basu.
The members picked up the nuances of kantha stitch at a live session with the artisans
Shamlu ma’am, your heart must be full today...
Absolutely. My biggest passion for kantha was to empower rural women. We tried to see how we could sell their stuff and started with saris and dupattas and took them to London and Bombay. Recently, Malika has envisioned designs that I couldn’t have visualised. If young people can wear kantha embroidered outfits, what more could you ask for?