I remember looking into the vary eyes of this old man who sat giving us this distasteful; totally unforgiving stare. I also remember, quite well, the discomfort I felt. It is like striding towards your humiliation and banging into it...a little too hard.
"We just need 5 minutes of your time." I managed my sweetest possible tone.
"What will 5 minutes do? 5 minutes ain't doing you any good. You need to spend time for these kind of things." Pat came his reply and smack; I hit my head inwardly. One wrong step and we'd lose any chance of information out of him.
Mr. Hans Raj Dhiman, a miniature paintings artist, was our goal for the day. My Research project on the embroidery of a town called Chamba, turned out to be one of the most eventful times of my college days. I'm pretty sure I won't be forgetting this very soon.
Today, as I sit back securely on a couch in my house and try and gather the experiences I had there, its probable I might not be able to explain with as much an intensity as it was then. Perhaps, if I have to describe my trip to this small town, justly, I should be sitting in a room with termite infested matresses, surrounded by algae eaten walls covered in hideous wallpaper, a broken ceiling on our heads, tons of mosquito bites on my arms and a groggy head from too many antibiotics which fought off 'other' ailments like my sun rashes.
How many of us must know about 'Chamba Rumal'? I think I'm safe to guess a fairly low percentage of people who visit this page. It's alright, I'm not blaming you. Its art's nature to be secluded. I won't say I'm proud of that. Yet I also won't blame either you or art itself. However, it would not be difficult to decide who is to blame when I talk about it and you don't pay interest. Yes, I'm sorry about being firm, but I think it's time someone is.
I don't ask you to know the history. I also don't ask you to go into any kind of details. I only ask you to acknowledge it...to just know that it exists. To respect it as an entity...not to glorify it or any of that...but just to pay attention.
Chamba Rumal is a very interesting embroidery of northern India which is entirely based on miniature paintings of Hindu Mythology. Professional miniature artists first draw on the cloth before the workers start filling it with embroidery. Its not something utterly exclusive to look at in the pictures or the books, honestly. But if ever you get the chance of seeing it up close...let it open itself to you. Just for a mere 2 minutes let your attention be held. There will be tons of activity happening. An explosion of colour, movement, stories will overwhelm you. Let it. That might just be the closest you will ever get to appreciating art in its element.
I being a design student, have never been much of an embroidery enthusiast myself. However, to see this strong, vibrant composition exploding in front of you, coming from people who haven't studied an 'a' of art all there lives and probably don't understand the bookish principles of design and aesthetic, is magic in itself. Imagine drawing a figure without once breaking a line. Imagine embroidering both sides of a cloth. Imagine being so fine with your needle every single finger of Krishna, playing his flute, is differentiable.
There are 5 metre stretches of cloth with the Ram Lila, the Mahabharata, the Ramayana depicted in finely detailed embroidery. Imagine doing 5 metres of cloth 2 times. Both sides of the cloth identical. Thats like doing one painting twice.
I do not expect you to go crazy about it, some might not even find it that interesting... I only encourage you to look at art the way it is. No need to be a critic...just look at it and try to see the labour...and most importantly the devotion.
I distinctly remember Mr. Dhiman's face when I asked him what he thinks about the present scenario of Chamba Rumal. It had despair, again that familiar distaste in his eyes, yet a subtle confidence. His response was diplomatic. Yet that man did actually make us sit for more than an hour...and finally ended up showing us his old suitcase full of his old chamba rumals that he wouldn't let us take pictures of. The distaste seemed to have left his eyes for a while. He actually smiled. A victory was won. Chamba Rumal has hopes as long it has people like him around.
Small people in small shops...painting huge canvases.
