I recently read ‘ARTS AND CRAFTS OF INDIA’ an e-book by Anuradha Sowmyanarayanan – a book I got from Blog Chatters and understand was produced/developed under the mentorship programme. So, its fresh and most likley the first time writer. We all been there and know how nervous one is on its first push- to be open to all observation and critique including few long and straight like me.
‘Art and Crafts of India’ fits the definition of a book. A book is a set of written, printed, or blank sheets between a front and back cover. But, then, we all do look inside for content and relevance.
‘Art and Crafts of India’ has 210-375 word chapters. Each chapter picking salient features of the craft in question. Now, we all know, how tough it is to cover, define and d justice to a craft form in such short write-up. So, no doubt, Anuradha Sowmyanarayanan effort in this does not do justice to the richness and divergent which do not do complete justice to the subject matter. It does seem fragmented, disjointed, and incomplete and leave the reader with a feeling of wanting a lot more than what has been served on 26 arts and crafts forms prevalent in India.
What the reader gets through the pages is a hazy picture for each form of arts and crafts. The author somewhere works with a self-imposed no-discriminating format of devoting ONE PICTURE and Two Pages to an art or craft form. Two pages!. I would fail to write an introduction in it. The author could have included more descriptions, pictures, explanations and the intricacies, timelines and developments. I for one would have wanted more detailed coverage of fewer crafts form- of a type or a region- than trying to touch upon as many as possible.
The book informs us that there are more than 3000 arts and crafts forms across India but gives no rationale for picking the 26 for the book. Why were these picked? what is so special about them? At least I could not find a pattern or a logic as the author moves in a wide spectrum from paper to embroidery to wall painting to paper cutting- thus further diluting the impact. Result as an un-satiated curiosity driven reader I had to push myself to read the book as I had committed to review it for the Blogchatters Reviewer programme.
COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER.
It reminded me of the comments many students get ins chool- ‘Could have done better’. It speaks of the potentila and in this case I am referring to the content and subject. The book was on my subject of interest and maybe that is the reason I was left a bit un-satiated. It was more apt for people wanting qa top-of-the-line basic information. I expected a detailed discussion and some history and POV on the art and craft forms. The book did not help. It has basic information but treats the reader as subject expert- failing in to describe- shop or explain the different names of various patterns – expecting the reader to understand! Maybe it is meant for readers of a higher order. And truely I am not one of them.
FROM THE PAGES. MAKING A POINT.
It does have some interesting trivia that makes it somewhat good to read. However, even these suffer from a lack of presentation. Here are a few samples.
“Banjara embroidery is done on thirteen different colours of base fabric, among which dark blue or red are commonly used”. Now, which are these 13 colours? You can have your own guess. Why these 13 colours? Guess again. The book provides no answers. It would have been so nice to know.
“Dharwad Kasuti embroidery needle moves in different directions, creating symmetrical geometric designs that look identical on both sides of the cloth”. Well, what are these directions, and how are the patterns created? Your guess is as good as mine. How do they look similar on both sides? Would a pictorial representation not have done wonders to make this point?
Chikankari
And here is another. “Phanda and Murri are stitches used to embroider the centre of the flower in traditional Chikankari“. What is Phanda and who the hell is Murri?
Arts and craft further note, “Murri is rice-shaped, whereas phanda is millet-shaped, and they are often French knots ( who?) . Chikankari embroidery features numerous patterns (any guesstimate of numbers) and designs of muree, lerchi, keelkangan and bakhia“.
What are numerous patterns- no, sir, we will not tell- share or show. And what are these ndifferent design forms at the end? Well you find out.
Sometimes, the author is confused if the book is an information compilation, synopsis, or how-to-do-yourself guide. The language needs improvement, and the inconsistency is frustrating. Read this: “Indian ink drawings are drawings in which Indian ink is used to obtain strong contrasts and saturated hues.” You said it so well.
Now, here is something special. It reads, “Floor Painting has been recorded in the ‘Chitralakshana’ and in the Ramayana. These paintings are known by different names in different parts of the country, ‘alpana‘ in Bengal and Assam, ‘aripana‘ in Bihar, ‘mandana‘ in Rajasthan, ‘rangoli‘ in Maharashtra, ‘sathiya‘ in Gujarat, ‘sona rakhna‘ and ‘chowkpurana‘ in Uttar Pradesh, ‘ossan‘ or ‘jhunti‘ in Orissa and ‘kolam’ in Tamil Nadu”.
How easy to club them under a generic name!. These are very special, with geographical and cultural uniqueness. But the author finds it so easy and clubs them together.
Read it here – “Madhubani art has five special styles. They are Bharni, Kachin, Tantrik, Godna, and Khobar. It takes as long as 15-20 days to complete a Madhubani. The larger the size and the more detailed the work, the more exquisite the painting”. And for all it is worth, we will not explain the differences or show you how they are different.
NET NET on Arts and Crafts of India
If this kind of writing makes sense for you on such an extensive subject, go ahead and read. However, I would suggest not taking it as the best example of coverage on these rich- diverse cultural heritage- the art and craft forms of India..
BLOG/066?2023 To connect, send an email, join on Twitter S_kotnala or subscribe to the weekly update.
