They are everywhere — cows, dragonflies, deer, birds… animal and bird motifs are the USP of Kamlesh Vijala’s stall of appliqué cushion covers and bedspreads. Made in Jamnagar, Gujarat, the bed linen is predominantly in off-white and black. Apart from appliqué work, Kamlesh also stocks hand-embroidered cushion covers. Guess what the designs are?
Glass, a class apartA litter of white piglets with pink ears and noses crowd about the table at Mahesh Krishna’s stall. Made of glass, the delicate figures have come all the way from Agra. Tiny penguins, elephants, mice, lady-bugs, and fish in the form of fridge magnets call out to passers-by. Each of them has been hand-made using the flame-work technique. Some of them are barely an inch long. A speciality is the colourful fish that can float in water when suspended on a length of string with a glass ball tied to one end. “My father taught me the method of making glass figures,” says Mahesh. “This is our family business.”
Toys from long agoAjith Kumar is an ideal toy-seller. When a little boy approaches his stall of traditional wooden toys and figurines, he offers him biscuits and demonstrates his toys like a child. “I come from Varanasi,” he says. “These are the kind of toys that children loved to play with during my grandfather’s time.” Apart from exquisite photo frames, tops, and parrot-shaped rattles, Ajith also has a toy with tiny wooden hens arranged in a circle. When rotated, all of them start to peck at the ground in unison. Ajith says that his products are all made out of mango tree wood sourced from Madhya Pradesh. Amongst the smallest in his stall is a quarter-inch figure of goddess Lakshmi. He even has wooden earrings, shaped like parrots for Rs. 50.
Stories on cloth“Each piece of cloth here tells a story,” says Archana Kumari from Ramnagar, Bihar. She is an expert at sujani embroidery, using which the women in her village “tell stories”. “We talk about women’s empowerment, education, and society as we see it,” she adds. “There are 200 of us who are engaged in this craft.” One of her works shows a scene from an all-women classroom under a tree. “This is to say how important it is to educate the girl child,” says Archana. Her craft has taken her to several places across the world. “I recently travelled to the U.S. to participate in a crafts exhibition,” she says. She has recreated this experience on cloth in the form of embroidery.
Colours galoreArtist Rachana G. Bhavsar is an expert on pastel painting on metal and terracotta. Her stall bursts with colours — her smiling metal kites and big-eyed fish with utility hooks and bright patterns are charming. An artist for 15 years, Rachana employs 13 artisans at her studio in Pune. “Most of my work is abstract, done with pastel paint,” she explains and adds that the colours are water-proof. A sprightly sun suspended at her stall nods in the wind on our way out.
(The Bazaar is on till February 15, 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. at Kalakshetra Foundation)
