Having crossed the age of 70, Mumbai-based Chatty Janaki was clear about one thing - she wouldn't let age bog her down and restrict her creative spirit. So, she took up what she knew best - crochet embroidery - with renewed vigour
A workshop held in Kolkata's Tiretti Bazaar as part of The Community Art Project
Having crossed the age of 70, Mumbai-based Chatty Janaki was clear about one thing - she wouldn't let age bog her down and restrict her creative spirit. So, she took up what she knew best - crochet embroidery - with renewed vigour. And soon, a minted mahogany almirah where all her creations were stored was packed to the brim. This gave her daughter, Chatty Girija, an idea: why not create a platform for other women like her mother to also showcase their embroidery skills and make some money in the process? Keeping that in mind, Girija launched a brand under the aegis of a digital advertising firm she runs , which she decided to call Amma K i Almari (AKA).
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Swati Mishra
Now, both Janaki and Girija will take AKA's story to Maker Mela, a platform for grassroots innovators that enters its third edition at a city college this weekend. The event brings start-ups, investors and mentors under one roof for three days. The aim is to identify the brightest sparks and hand-hold them through the process of making their idea profitable, says Gaurang Shetty, CEO of Riddl, a business incubation firm that's organising the event.
Leena Singh with one of her creations
"I'll give you the example of Apple," Shetty says, adding, "Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, the firm's founders, would go to science fairs and pick up ideas from there. Our event is on the same lines. And it's focused not only on tech, but on arts and design as well, since I believe that without those two components, any new technology is bound to fail."
Chatty Janaki and (right) Girija
That being the case, people like Swati Mishra, who runs The Community Art Project (TCAP), and Leena Singh, the founder of Scrappy Festive Wear, will also participate in Maker Mela. Mishra, who is based in Kolkata, says, "TCAP is a project that works with a particular community to upgrade public spaces like markets and gardens. For instance, our pilot project is with Kolkata's oldest Chinese community at Tiretti Bazaar. It is an open market and so here, we have developed a prototype for mobile waste bins. We are also giving out garden umbrellas to the vendors and are encouraging members of the community to create art on shop shutters to beautify the neighbourhood."
A framed crochet design by Amma Ki Almari
Singh, meanwhile, is a student of fashion design in Mumbai. The idea for Scrappy Festive Wear came from a class project she had to undertake last year, for which she had to put waste cloth from tailor shops to creative use. "I designed a ghagra-choli made from the cloth that tailors cut away while stitching blouses. That later led me to experiment with the idea of using waste material to create festive wear for any Indian occasion," she says.
The event's thrust on arts and design is reflected in these participants. But Maker Mela also has ample scope for tech gurus to display offbeat gadgets. Keshav Bhogale, for example, has developed a fan that needs only a clap of one's hands to have its speed regulated. Sahil Patole, 18, has built a car that can change directions according to a person's hand gestures. And Armaan Gupta, who is all of 10 years old, has built a mopping machine that dries up surfaces simultaneously while cleaning them. So, it's not just a mix of science and arts that will be on offer at the festival, but also of the old and the young. For, even as Gupta displays his machine to potential investors, Janaki, too, will be around with her daughter somewhere in the vicinity, showing people how it's possible to have a new spring in your step even when you're 76.
From January 11 to 13, 9 am to 9 pm
At Somaiya Vidyavihar campus, near Rajawadi Hospital, Vidyavihar.
Log on to makermela.com to register either as a maker or as a visitor
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