Message of peace
Critics would love to call the Commonwealth Games “a sinking ship”, but there are a few who have refused to desert it. Instead they feel it’s time to lend support to the nation rather than scrutinise it.
In true Dilliwallah style, designer Madhu Jain along with Milind Soman has come forth to create a Tree of Knowledge for the Fabrics of India segment during the opening ceremony of the Games, and the message they hope to spread is one of national integration.
She says, “We believed it was an ideal forum to showcase the 2,000-year-old heritage of weavers and artisans of India.”
Three months of extensive travelling and working with 500 Kalamkari painters, 300 weavers and 200 embroiderers to embellish the panels failed to exhaust her and now she calmly waits for the world to see the face of the unknown Indian weaver and unsung craftsmen.
After having worked for close to seven years on a project on Kashmir and swayed by the efforts of friends involved in the process of reconciliation at an individual level, they zeroed in on the Chinar leaf as the theme for the embroidery.
She says, “There is nothing closer to the heart of people belonging to the Valley than their unique culture, love for their topography and the Chinar tree. In this time of turbulence and mistrust, you need such gestures to convey the message of peace, harmony and care.” Keeping with the green theme of the Games, bamboo and silk have been used as the base fabric. “We have blended the bamboo fibre with raw silk to create the base fabric and the vibrant motifs of Chinar leaves are done in Kalamkari,” she says.
While she likes to play it safe, to do the Tree of Knowledge was Milind’s idea, informs Madhu. “I have a very conservative approach, but Milind likes to experiment. He felt that doing this giant installation will be a huge challenge. In Projekt M, Milind makes the key decisions whereas the design implementation and execution fall under my domain,” says Madhu.
Madhu is keeping her fingers crossed and adds, “We should remember that for every five people who do something wrong, there are 5,000 people who’re working towards making the Games happen.”
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