The lives we touch ..

Imagine a world, increasingly missing one vital element, a sense, TOUCH.

We need not imagine, for most of us have experienced its absence over the last few months. 

What does it mean to touch? .. Touching on one hand is a sensation, one that our entire skin does, one that is intimately linked to fabrics and textile. The feel of a beautiful hand spun muslin, draping the shoulders.. and yet another is to be `touched’, where one has been moved, or inspired to an elevated state of being, and yet another, is to be able to touch .. the life of another .

 What we wear talks about who we are, or what we want to be known as –  is the basic premise of the fashion industry.  The very ground has shifted, into our wanting to be a people, who see themselves as part of one big human family (vasudhaiva kutumbakam). How would we respond to the same, in our homes, in the objects we own, in the clothes all of us wear.

 It is here, in the story of crafts, not just Indian crafts, that one can probably find answers. India has been the source of many ideas, which , being ints principle exports have found root all over the world. Yoga, Ayurveda , and the number zero , being some of them. The idea of living a life, around the hand made, is another such idea, an idea whose time has come.

I would not say that the idea of crafts is to replace any other production process, but instead, to consider ways in which we can cohabit, coproduce, and cross pollinate our thoughts , into a means of making that recognizes and gives dignity to creative makers. As a designer I am constantly engaged in this act of seeing the cross roads. I run a company, and see that industrial processes, couples with craft processes can create products that will not be possible, by either, individually, or be able to address markets in a feasible manner.

India currently has an approximate export of 26000 cr in hand made or hand crafted products, of which about 6000 cr is the share of hand made textiles. The numbers indicate that this supports upto 7 million artisans. If one roughly looks at these numbers, one is looking at a meager 1500 rs per annum to a single artisan (assuming that 50 % of the final cost accommodates raw material, and other transactional expenses) . The scope of possibilities is tremendous, not only in terms of numbers and market share, but also in the reach that this industry can have for our artisans.

 It is with a great deal of certainty that I can say that India, by far, has the largest pool of makers, from anywhere in the world. We find makers using many different materials, many different techniques, to make many different products. And it is with equal certainty that I say that if this treasure is not conserved, and supported, it will be a loss to all of humanity.

Do we have the capacity to `touch’ these makers by having things that have been `touched’ by them. Can touch be a property, in a way similar to how one indicates calories in food, where touch is inherent in a product, and be an aspect that one wants more of?

I am absolutely confident that the world resonates with this desire. The more we as a people immerse ourselves into the ether of the digital world, the more we desire the connection, and this, friends is an incredible opportunity that we have. The opportunity can be realized by story telling, by talking of the elegance, and the frugality with which crafts can shape identities, and by talking of possibilities that all of us share .

Can we consider partnerships in which, instead of extracting the most out of each other, we look at how we can enrich each other, look for ways in which we empower each other, and understand that like in a family, what's good for one, can also be good for all. The net sum remains that same, because the negotiating then, is a considered one.

While one generally looks at crafts as an industry that requires constant help and support, which undeniably it does, it also has a whole slew of answers, both in the sphere of technology, design and product, but also in social action, environmental responsibility, and above all a deep mindfulness, no different from what the zen masters have spoken about.

When I talk about opportunities, I talk, not only opportunities for makers, but also opportunities for everyone, as designers, as traders, as policy makers, as visionaries. I know international chains picking up possibilities in crafts, bringing in knowledge and processes that help streamline it. There are groups of women in south India as well weavers in Bikaner  who produce for large conglomerates like Ikea, and small embroidery ateliers producing for some of the most exclusive fashion houses in the world, and the whole spectrum in between.

The challenge that is evident, is this wide chasm of language, expectations, timelines, budgets, and a host of other ones. But hey, if we can send a man on the moon and map the planet, so... why not this? The bridge for this may not be a rainbow, but it would surely have a pot of gold at its end.

“We must find an activity in which everyone can participate. I want to tell you that handicrafts alone provide such activity.” M.K. Gandhi said this one hundred years ago and it remains relevant today.  Through the Khadi movement of hand-spinning and hand-weaving natural fiber cloth, Gandhi made a correlation between personal action and the making of a nation. Khadi is a tool of India’s identity, then, now and on the way ahead.

I am the father of three daughters and, with my wife Geetanjali, we are deeply invested in their being global citizens who, each in their own way, are keepers of their Indian identity. I see crafts as tangible material culture, something inseparable from who we are. It is our obligation to expose our daughters to craft, the arts and culture thus taking responsibility enriching their identities. 

Supporting the hand made is a way of sharing the promise made to my daughters. I invite you to find India through handmade objects and their makers, to see how India’s heritage, social resources, indigenous knowledge expressed in hand skills are an insight to the unfolding of identity. The business of making is being reinvented in ways that support the Indian economy, in ways that will be viable for generations to come. Industry is making the commitment to propose Hand Made, as profitable for humanity.