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Literary Review
Source of inspiration
KAMALADEVI CHATTOPADHYAY, the grand dame of Indian handicrafts has been so written about that bringing out one more book on this remarkable woman is a challenge for anyone. To commemorate her birth centenary on April 3, the Crafts Council of India (CCI) along with Crafts Council of Karnataka and CCI's affiliated councils joined hands to bring out a series of events in Bangalore that would have done this patron of craft proud, and one such item on the agenda was the publication of a book titled Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay — A True Karmayogi which was to comprise of articles contributed by those who were close to the great lady.
Each of the 20 people who write about Kamaladevi talk about the profound effect their relationship with her had on their lives. It is a difficult task for editors to elicit from "friends" the kind of information they are looking for and to structure the whole book into a moving epistle of human relationship, and what is lacking is a thread of commonality which would have strung the stories together, in a smooth flow. It would have been more enjoyable if there were more stories and anecdotes exploring other sides to this multi-facetted woman, other than what she commonly appeared as to the public, an achiever, serious, determined, and a strict disciplinarian. Some of the essays portray Kamaladevi the humanitarian, exposing her compassion, love and a deep understanding which she kept hidden beneath layers of work ethics and focused programmes directed at better living standards for the downtrodden.
Craft activists are familiar with Kamaladevi's accomplishments which are legion and which have been told in detail in other books. Her brief political involvement, her work in theatre craft, with a rare passion for fine arts, her militancy in confronting political giants like Nehru and Gandhi, her fight with the government to change its rigid colonial approach towards co-operatives, the establishing of the Handicrafts Board and her concerted and fearless attempts to give the crafts persons their rightful dues — the list is endless.
A few brief glimpses of the very feminine woman she was delight the reader. L.C. Jain talks about Kamaladevi at the sewing machine cutting up sari borders and attaching them to other saris to create an exclusivity all her own. Vijaya Rajan's image of a traditionally fashionable lady in thick handloom saris, with the lingering fragrance of the string of jasmine in her hair, her love of inexpensive tribal jewellery as described by Mohana Ayyangar, Sita Krishnan's vision of Kamaladevi enjoying her South Indian filter coffee, ven pongal and dosais, and on another occasion, driving off to meet the Bastar Tribals in a ramshackle station wagon enjoying the discomfiture of Brigadier Ramanathan make interesting reading.
Also included is an excerpt from Kamaladevi's speech at the Asian Assembly of the World Crafts Council and a list of her achievements. Perhaps an excerpt from Kamaladevi's autobiography Inner Recesses Outer Spaces, would have added to the content of the book.
The most moving portrait in the book is by Anasuya Pavanje where Kamaladevi looms larger than life in her deep compassion for suffering humanity. Reaction to her illness and her death by N. Kumar Das and L.C. Jain are poignantly written and for a woman who had no sycophants and one who was feared by men and women alike this was a heartfelt tribute. The number of journeys, most of them difficult ones into the heart and soul of India in the quest for discovering craft and unearthing its makers are documented by some of the people who travelled with her and getting to know her intimately, in the process, admiring her courage and determination defying ill-health and the rigours of old age to accomplish whatever she set out to do. Hers was the message of craft renaissance, a message which endures even today as is brought out in the form of fitting tributes in the book where her admirers and supporters pay homage to a lady who remains a great source of inspiration.
Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay: A True Karmayogi, edited by M.V. Narayan Rao, The Crafts Council of Karnataka, p.112, price not stated.
SABITHA RADHAKRISHNA
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