Occupation: Mehandi artist
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“Mehandi art has been a fascination ever since I can remember. Actually, it is never me alone, I always work with my twin sister Mumthaz. From putting mehandi on brides to creating designs on the palms of young girls for Id, we do it together. So, I find it a little strange to be here alone, but I understand the column is about one person.
We began by putting mehandi on each other when we were small girls. This is a talent inherited from our mother. In the early days we put mehandi with coconut leaf reeds. Leaves would be collected from a neighbour’s place next to the ancestral house. We would grind and sieve it. From the collected mehandi, designs would be made with a reed. Even a small design had to be repeated many times to get the desired brightness. Now, it is the cone. In fact, we have our own mehandi cone brand.
It is over 20 years since we started mehandi designing as a profession. But even before we ventured out seriously, this is what we were known for — mehandi sisters. Every sight we saw on our way to school, especially the floral prints on clothes left out to dry, would become a mehandi design. It would be first tested on our hands.
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When a teacher from whom Mumthaz learnt glass work noticed the intricate designs on her hand, she suggested we do it professionally. She referred an enquiry to us and it was for the bride’s elder sister. The family did not want to take a risk with the bride’s hand. But after we finished, the sister exclaimed she did not have such a beautiful design even for her wedding.
Ever since, the wedding season has been busy one. Our designs are a combination of Indian and Arabic. The characters are the same — flowers, leaves, creepers, lines and dots. But no two designs are. We do not document our designs, so cannot replicate them. Many a time, customers have asked us how we keep so many intricate designs hidden within. When we sit down with a palm in front of us, designs just happen.
These days, the customers are mostly children who are raised in the Middle East. They come with their fat design books and tell us to do our design on one hand and theirs on the other. Once we are done with our design, they quietly shove the book aside and ask for our design on the other hand too.
However, all customers have to come home to get their mehandi done. Though many have requested us to come to the wedding house, we haven’t relented. We are most comfortable in our space, in fact, large groups intimidate us. People now come even from neighbouring regions like Manjeri, Thamarssery and Wayanad.
In the early days, brides put mehandi only on the palms. Now it has extended to the back of the hand and right above the elbow. They also want designs on the legs. We charge Rs. 5,000 for a bridal mehandi of this extent. The cost comes down if the area to be designed is less.
It takes us about six hours to finish a bridal design and mind you it is with both of us working. Back aches are a given after a session. But since two of us are at it, we constantly give feedbacks and pep each other up.
One may be lazy about a lot of chores. But mehandi art is passion and we do it for the love of it.”
As told to P. ANIMA
A weekly column on the men and women who make Kozhikode what it is.