Amidst Red Bricks and Bougainvillea

Campus Diary – In conversation with the students of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

At ‘The Loom’, we are all about reconnecting with our traditional/ ethnic roots. We have not relegated ourselves to simply endorse and exchange ethnic/ traditional products with the nation. We have almost taken it to our stride to explore the awareness among people about their traditional roots, their will to revive it and for the ones lesser aware, to create awareness about the same! For at ‘The Loom’ we believe, ‘Roots, They Matter’ and we try to work on this motto as far as possible! Therefore, ‘The Loom’ family came up with an outlandish plan of action with the agenda of ‘rejuvenating roots’. We have decided to have ‘Campus Conversations’ in different colleges in India, to explore the youth’s sentimentality regarding ethnicity and traditional essence in contemporary fashion. We further planned to create ‘Campus Diaries’ – archives of our enriching campus conversations to be read and shared by everyone.

‘The Loom’ decided to delve into this unique voyage by conducting the first campus diary in a campus that is as unique as ‘the Loom’s’ intentions. The first campus diary therefore was held amidst the famous Red bricks, Bougainville and inordinately welcoming people of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. This ‘campus conversation’ took place on 13th of April, 2017. No sooner did we enter the parallel cosmos of JNU, than the enveloping canopy of greenery diminished the sweltering sunrays. The walk that followed was mesmerizing for inexplicable reasons; the visual can very well become a subject of a painter’s painting – lush greenery reminiscent to woods, the expressive faces – few consumed in the act of reading, some engrossed in (what seemed to be) life changing debates while some lying carefree on the soft grass, simply watching the day pass by. The occasional sight of the clamoring peacocks could of course be that added delicacy of the painter’s painting. The idea thus, was to conduct an impromptu interview with vigilantly chosen few, who would manage to catch our attention, for all the right reasons! Walking through an enmeshed vista of the green and the concrete, it wasn’t too long, before we found our first two interviewees near the SL (School of Languages) and SIS (School of International Studies) buildings of the campus- Shifani Reffai and Rashi Chauhan. Shifani, an International student from Srilanka, is perusing her Masters degree in English Literature from the Centre for English Studies (School of Languages) of this university. Rashi, is Shifani’s batch mate from the same department and they happen to be bosom buddies too.

During the Campus Conversation with Shifani and Rashi, amidst the red bricks and bougainvillea of JNU

Adorning a black kurti, beige palazzo, a fusion choker round her neck and most importantly a head gear done in such a chic manner – choosing Shifani out of the throng was almost a piece of cake.

Kurta paired with palazzo, Roman slippers and the hijab done so uniquely- Shifani Reffai rocking her ethnic look!

The profundity that she brought to the conversation that followed, only asserted how right our instinct was, regarding choosing her.

Roshni (The Loom) – “What would be your take on traditional or ethnic fashion of the contemporary times?”

Shifani- “People tend to have personal choices in fashion. For me, it is very important to express my ethnic roots, or the connection with my culture, through my fashion statement. The challenge to express the same however, is twofold. On one hand we are under a pressure to give in to the secular, globalised contemporary fashion. Then again, giving in, runs the risk of losing our cultural individuality. Growing up in an Islamic background, retaining my cultural identity through the fashion I endorse, comes very naturally to me…”

Roshni (The Loom) – “Speaking of cultural identity, what made me want to have this conversation with you in the first place is because of the unique rendition you have given to your hijab. Do you want to say something about the same?”

Shifani- “What I do with the hijab is not original though (smiles). It has been done previously in African countries, in Turkey, Malaysia (etc). A lot of people are continuously re-interpreting the hijab. Personally, I too feel that it is important to try and redefine the hijab in more positive and empowering terms. So sometimes, and quite consciously I wear my hijab in this fashionable way, so to speak, because I don’t think modesty and fashion is very mutually exclusive. Thus, I like to combine the two, which in a way becomes reflective of my personality.”

Mentioning about ‘The Loom’ was almost inevitable in the context of appreciating, reviving and retaining one’s cultural roots. In fact, Shifani’s thoughts about our website were precious enough, to not make it to this archive:

Shifani – “As an individual retaining my cultural identity is very essential and it has a lot to do with the space I belong from. Thus in this light, coming across a website like The Loom, which is trying to retain the nation’s roots and culture through ethnic couture, indigenous handloom, or Indian handicrafts, is really admirable!”

We thank our lucky stars for the effortless quest for our second interviewee, Rashi. She donned her distressed denim with a bright summer colored kurti, a jhola and classic kohlapuris, like a boss! Her attire was reflective of her personality- chirpy, vibrant yet impressively powerful; powerful enough to be translated in her captured photographs as well!

Kurti, kohlapuri sandals paired with distressed denims- Rashi captured in all her glory!

While conversing with Shifani about our website, Rashi joined in to share her thoughts regarding ‘The Loom’ in comparison to other websites of the contemporary times.

Rashi “The online websites still have a long journey to embark upon, when it comes to the issue of endorsing ethnic/ traditional fashion. We have tons of website catering to the need of western apparel but quality ethnic wear online is still a rare phenomenon, I believe. In fact, coming across a website like The Loom was a pleasant surprise. It is a very attractive website in terms of the choice of products, its presentation and most importantly its vision…”

Our conversation with Rashi revealed how she absolutely adored the fact that the website is not restricted to quintessential traditional wear. The array of fusion ethnic wear that the website endorses or the way it caters to the almost lost art forms of India by working with root level artisans as well as trying to create an awareness about them through our blogs, etc are few things she kept on mentioning about The Loom; the things that seemed to enthrall her!

While the sun was growing kinder on us, Shifani and Rashi offered us a tour of JNU. For the people who haven’t visited this university yet, you are missing out on a microcosmic heaven on earth! We trudged quite a bit, only with the lure of reaching a prospective delightful place, which goes by the name PSR (Parthasarathi Rocks) in JNU. A maze of the rugged beauty of rocks and serenity of the blushing bougainvillea- as anticipated PSR did not fail to mesmerize us! It was just few minutes before reaching PSR that we stumbled upon our last interviewee- Sramana Chatterji, a PhD scholar in the Centre for Historical Studies, JNU.

Adorning a pair of beautiful silver earrings and draped in a baker-miller pink saree, Sramana formed a beautiful imagery against the blushing bougainvilleas, which had blossomed in frenetic abundance, all over JNU. Thus entering PSR, we decided to shoot Sramana under a canopy of bougainvillea itself before stirring up our campus conversation with her!

Blushing as the pink bougainvillea behind her, Sramana photographed in her favorite traditional attire, ‘saree’!

Speaking about her personal fashion choices, Sramana mentioned how she absolutely loved traditional wear, especially sarees, which further brought in few more relevant questions for discussion.

Roshni(The Loom)- “It is amazing to hear about your love for sarees, Sramana! In this light, do you think the affinity for traditional dressing is slowly becoming a lost art?”

Sramana – “Though there is continuous frenzy about western ways of dressing, which is quite natural in a globalised society, I wouldn’t say affinity for traditional dressing is becoming a lost art. I mean, I am a member of the contemporary society itself, but I absolutely love the idea of traditional wear. In fact, let us not ignore the ever increasing urge to re-interpret the traditional wear. Take the instance of the experiments done to a saree in the present times- people are wearing it with shirts, with jackets, pairing it with jeans and even with boots…”

 

Roshni (The Loom) – “Thank you for this beautiful insight Sramana! Finally, would you like to lend your thoughts regarding ‘The Loom’?”

Sramana- “Oh yes! I have to say ‘Loom’ was a marvelous discovery for me. Being a lover of ethnic fashion, I find it quite difficult to shop quality traditional apparel online. But The Loom befits my taste completely. Also the entire idea of working with Indian craftsmen and artisans- reaching out to the Indian roots of history and heritage enthralls me as a student and as an ardent lover of history…”

With the sunrays dilapidating slowly, our campus conversation too came to an end. The little ‘fashionably intellectual’ (so to speak) voyage that we took inside JNU with those three amazing souls would be forever etched in our hearts. To show our gratitude for their contribution in our endeavor, we ‘The Loom’ family gifted Shifani, Rashi and Sramana small tokens of appreciation- exclusively hand painted Madhubani key rings and card holders along with a personal hand written message from Mrs. Komal Goel, the co-founder of our ‘Loom’ family. We hope those sweet nothings remind them of us and of the experience, till the end of time!

Gifts for the participants from SWARANG DESINGS by ‘The Loom’ family with handwritten notes from Mrs. Komal Goel (co-founder, The Loom)

The consequences of profound conversations are almost similar to that of sorcery; they can draw strangers inexplicably close, deluding them to believe, they have known each other from the inception! The experience of our first ever campus conversation with Shifani, Rashi and Sramana can be elucidated in a similar way! Here’s hoping to cross paths again in near future; keep ‘The Loom’ family in your fondest memories, for we definitely will!

Happy faces make great photographs!

As for our awesome readers, if this campus diary has managed to delight you, we
have more delightful surprises in store for you! How does a new campus and
maybe a new city sound? We will be ‘back like a boomerang’! Until then, keeping showering us with your love, like you always do!

Thank You.

Correspondent & Writer
Roshni Sen (The Loom)

Product Details

Exclusive Madhubani-hand painted key rings and card holders from SWARANG DESIGNS.
(You can shop this collection from our website – www.theloom.in )

Participants

Shifani Reffai , Centre for English Studies (JNU)

Rashi Chauhan, Centre for English Studies (SL, JNU)

Sramana Chaterji, Centre for Historical Studies (JNU)

Photography Courtesy- Harshul Sharma

———X———