Agnimitra adds the finishing touches to the uttariyas at her Palit Street studio. Picture by Rashbehari Das

Agnimitra Paul had a “thrilling” creative experience, something she would “cherish for the rest of her life”. The designer from Gurusaday Road has created a set of 10 uttariyas for an elite set that included Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, chief minister Mamata Banerjee and union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee. The occasion was the diamond jubilee celebration of Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, held on Sunday, at the institute’s Salt Lake address.

“It was a great experience. I hadn’t designed for any political leader before this,” smiles Agnimitra. Though she would have liked to fuse Meghnad Saha’s career highlights with Bengali motifs in her designs, the deadline did not allow that. “I scarcely had two weeks to complete 10 pieces,” she says. Yet, she and her contingent of karigars found it fulfilling.

The brief from the institute was to design in kantha. “They wanted two logos — one of the diamond jubilee and another of the institute — at the two ends of the uttariya, and mentioned that these should be visible from a distance of 30ft! They also specified that the Tricolour should be present. So, I added Tricolour pattis,” she says. Other design details included a kantha panel in the middle of each uttariya with Saha’s famous “equation of the ‘reaction-isobar’ ” decorating the sides.

Bringing alive the institute’s vision was difficult. “It was all about calculation. The middle portion should add up to 8.5 inches, the formula had to be fitted within 1.5 inches and the Tricolour should fit in half-inch space… being scientists they are very particular about measurements,” she adds.

Fashioned out of tussore, the shade card for the uttariyas featured rust, bright cherry and green. “It had to be aesthetic. I wanted to make something that they should be proud to use later too,” signs off the designer.