tie and dye (bandini)

                                       Bandini fabric drying in the sun.

                                         
                                  Janis joplin in a tie and dye outfit at woodstock.

                                       
                                          A bandini saree.

In 1967, Michael McClure led the crowd chanting “OM” at the San Francisco’s Golden Gate and started off the “hippie” movement. A movement that pursued the realization of individuality based on the fundamental ethos of being in harmony with nature. A time when power had become all pervasive and there was no ideology left, the youth decided to get back to the core value system that humanity stands for-peace, love and harmony. Never was the Indian connection so strong, hippies grew their hair long, wore psychedelic colorful clothes and conformed to eastern philosophy. Artistic experimentation especially in music was huge but perhaps the most prominent remnant of that generation is their Organically ‘tie and dyed’ colorful clothes.

Now, in western India women have been using organic methods to make their clothes colorful since ancient times. Bandini or bandhej is an art of 'tie and dye’ practiced mainly in the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat. By using simple techniques of dyeing fabrics like cotton and muslin that are tied tightly with a thread, various patterns like Lehriya, Mothda, Ekdali and Shikari are created. Each village has its own unique pattern of dots and stripes made in pink, green, yellow, red by their women in the backyards of their homes.

As I mentioned in my previous blog a visit to Gujarat got me the opportunity to witness women living in a village near Rajkot make bandini fabric. Pools of colored water had fabric soaked in it. Vegetable dyes were being used to keep the process earthy and organic. Unlike the West where tie and dye was used to uphold an ideology on what life ought to be (a gentle nondoctrinaire ideology of peace, love and personal freedom), here in this village that ideology was a way of life. Human beings living peacefully in harmony with nature, sustaining themselves with an ancient art form that enabled their women financial and personal freedom. As I stood there, I remembered college days where I would wear psychedelic tees and flaunt an ideology that I didn’t truly grasp till now. Being a hippie didn’t just mean a hedonistic lifestyle, it was about free expression and essentially a striving for realization of one’s relationship to life and other people. These rural women around me had no idea about the profound impression their simple bandini had made in my mind. They lived a life in communal harmony where basic food clothing and shelter mattered and had no complications of modern life. Promoting their work would give me a sense a pride since I would be adding a tie and dye art form made in India to Kriya Kalash thus allowing me to be steeped in my roots but branching it out all over the place…

If you would like bandini (tie and dye) fabric from India, kindly contact us on kriyakalash@gmail.com

A Small Voice for Tibet

                                  the Singsa clans first photograph in India.

The Buddhist view of moral conduct is that it will shield you like strong armour.

                                                                                                                 Shamar rimpoche.

When momola Pembalama came to visit us during December of 1990, I remember the winter flowing by with her story telling. As she sat on her favorite cane chair, her fingers constantly moving through her prayer beads while she narrated stories of yore, we her grandchildren (some listening and others fidgeting )would be transported to the past tracing the genesis of our Tibetan family(singsa clan)in India. These afternoons on the terrace involved dreamy anecdotes as I sat eating oranges under the mild winter sun. Momola Pembalama would dramatically narrate the long trek our ancestor Thillen Sardar took from Tibet to India carrying only a sack of salt which he would use to barter for grain on his arrival, since in those days Tibet had no currency and traders would barter items like musk, wool, falcons and even salt……. There is no doubt that every  displaced Tibetan family in India and abroad has a similar story of migration because it is not easy transitioning from having a homeland to arriving as a refugee into a foreign land. Like dissipated snowflakes in an ocean Tibetans have sought sanctuary all over the world and the tragedy of not being able to go back to their homeland even after decades in exile is insurmountable.

A horrific image of a burning man running through the streets of Delhi on 28^th march,2012 was published in the papers a few days back. Jampel Yeshi, a 27year old monk decided self-immolation was the only way of protesting against Chinese policies in his homeland. Thirty or more Tibetan exiles have done the same before him. Tehelka, an Indian magazine states that “a document smuggled out of palden’s monastery, lists forced resettlement of Tibetan nomads, increased regulation of religious practice and heavy patrolling of Tibetan-dominated towns as factors in the monk’s decision to self-immolate”. Now, as an art blogger I’ve been advised time and again never to politicize art but for me the questions lie on whether art is functional or just for art’s sake? Should art have a cause attached to it so it can be humanized? In this case YES! The Tibetan cause is a personal one because I belong to this community and I have decided to use Tibetan art in a political context so that it offers a solution. Art can be used to ideologically challenge the powers that be and hope some justice is given, otherwise what is the point? The passage to India has not been easy for Tibetans. They have arrived through the years with nothing but clothes on their bodies and skills in hand. They have started all over again taking up different trades in the hills of Darjeeling and Ghoom in West Bengal , Dharamshala in Uttaranchal, and settlements down in Karnataka. Tibetan artisans, a reclusive art community have had to expose themselves and make money through their craft. Tibetan wood works, thangka paintings, ceramic sculptures and silver jewellery are now easily recognized due to their uniqueness. But there is more work to be done and kriya kalash has joined hands with Tibetan artisans to promote their craft. We are attaching a deeper meaning to the artifacts because this time it is standing up for humanity, freedom, justice, everything that the free world takes for granted. We stand for Jampel Yeshi and all other unknown Tibetans who have lost their lives in some way due to this displacement. Lastly, we stand for Tibetans all over the world struggling to rebuild their lives.

A thangka is a silk painting with embroidery mainly depicting a buddhist deity or scene.

Tibetan artisans are excellent wood carvers, making wooden altars (chesums) and sculptures keeping the religious theme in mind.



If you would like to purchase Tibetan thankgas,ceramic sculptures and wood works, kindly mail us at kriyakalash@gmail.com. prices are on request. you can also look at the following link to view another artifact in our blog.


http://kriyakalash.blogspot.in/2012/01/tibetan-snow-lion.html