The mystery that unravels as the knots open in the tie and dye technique have always fascinated me. As a kid, Ma would have us practice on handkerchiefs ( does anyone still use hankys or have tissues taken over completely ? ), then we graduated to dupattas and wore our hand work proudly to college. It was safest to work with white cloth and one colour. The magic and complexity of two colours was introduced to us as we got better at tying secure knots that would not let the colour run.
I’ve actually boiled dye in big patillas at home with Ma. My Ma was always good with her hands. Craft, crochet, knitting, embroidery, food, maalish, and that gentle placing of the hand on my shoulder that could convey so many things – encouragement, a plea to practice restraint, and sometimes, a gesture to imply what every child feeds on; a mother saying, ”I am with you”.
A few sarees later, I was in love. Tie & dye has been my favourite Gurjari import into my life. Did anyone else raid Gurjari, the gujarat emporium, in their college days too ? It was my favourite haunt for kurtas. The colour in that store made me happy.
In 2010, I joined the IIM-B for a short course in entrepreneurship. Our learning was more outside the classroom than in it, as all learning always is. This time we were adults in class, not children. The youngest was 20, the oldest student was 65 years old. We learned from each other’s life experiences, we forged friendships and we helped each other write, think and make business plans. Some have made successful ventures out of those plans now.
Atraeyee was the phataka of our class. Young, bubbly, with a mind that had a thousand ideas per minute, for a new venture.
After the course, some of us kept in touch. Atraeyee went back to Baroda where she was from, but sent this lovely gift with an even more lovely letter.
The saree is pure silk and came rolled up with the knots still tied. Miss K and I had a fun evening opening up the threads and seeing the design come to life. Miss K has made me promise her that we will do a tie and dye project together. Time to call my Ma for instructions.
Atraeyee Niharchandra has moved to Banglore since, and we keep in touch regularly. Atraeyee, see, I finally wore it.
Saree #59 ‪#‎100sareepact‬ ‪#‎fullcircle‬