Meenakshi Shedde: Dutchwoman spins the charkha

IllustrationUday MohiteOne of the great perks of my work in films is getting to travel worldwide and meeting really interesting people One of the most special people I know is Adriana mdash Addie mdash who lives in Duivendrecht 12 minutes by train from the heart of Amsterdam Imagine the only living person I know who actually spins a charkha is this Dutch woman living about 7000 km from India Addie has been travelling to India for years we have known each other for decades and she has often stayed with my family in Mumbai She is very impressed by Gandhiji his spinning of the charkha his belief in nonviolence and struggle for Indias freedom But in fact she had started to spin the wheel in her youth once popularised by the hippies in the 60s as she found its repetitive tasks meditativeAnd as the Netherlands is cold in winter Addie spins wool instead of cotton She buys wool from shepherds and spins the raw wool into woollen yarn on her charkha Her charkha is not in the familiar cyclespoke style but a terribly stylish one with a wooden disc made by the Louet company She tells me there is another charkha called Schippertje small ship a more compact model Her sister Ria even has a portable folding charkha which she carries during her travels Gandhijis mind would have boggled They dye the wool in natural colours which Ria also makes mdash onion peel becomes bright yellow walnuts exude redbrown Addie is forever knitting sweaters scarves and stoles which she generously gives away to friends and visitorsThe other impressive thing about Addie is her acute sense of time and using it enjoyably and well I sometimes visit her after the Berlin Film Festival in February and when I email her in December for ideal dates in endFebruary although she is always welcoming it takes some time to coordinate the best dates Although she has retired mdash she used to be a therapist for challenged children mdash her diary is always full Shes an active painter working in her studio upstairs that is bathed in light and joy She is a busy gardener she and her husband Joost have moved from Amsterdam to the outskirts so they could have a larger bungalow with a garden directly behind the garden gate a stream flows with swans ducks geese and moorhens floating about all day amid the weeping willows Each season Addie plants fresh seasonal flower bulbs earlier she also volunteered with a womens group working a medicinal herb garden She regularly visits her mother and her husbands mother regularly visits them for lunch Twice a month she also goes with a friend who is in a wheelchair to the leafy zoo where they both paint all afternoon She teaches Dutch to refugees from Eritrea and Iraq and to a small Polish boy Shes doing a course on the history of art She loves to cook and each day when I visit theres a new treat as she keenly follows recipes from her favourite cookery books including by Yotam Ottolenghi an IsraeliBritish chefAddie I discovered has adopted a Tibetan family in a distant village off Dharamshala if I remember right She has actually tracked down a DutchTibetan dictionary to communicate She has helped them build a pucca house helped pay for the childrens education and marriages She is lean and fit cycles everywhere is a vegetarian and practises yoga Although older with white hair going by her lust for life mdash and the radiance of her skin and eyes mdash she seems 20 years younger than even meMeenakshi Shedde is South Asia Consultant to the Berlin Film Festival awardwinning critic curator to festivals worldwide and journalist Reach her at meenakshisheddegmailcomCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates