Nandini Dutta. Picture by Biju Boro

She was nattily dressed in a tribal mekhela chador. Elegant, flamboyant and chic — Nandini Dutta, secretary of the Crafts Council of India, Assam chapter was in the city recently to showcase a collection of innovative and remodelled handicrafts of Assam. The council was founded by the late Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, the doyen of Indian handicrafts.

The only child of the illustrious couple Loknayak Omeo Kumar Das and Pushpalata Das, Dutta says, “My love for crafts has taken me places. I have acquired a taste for exotic handicrafts from my mother. Though she led a very austere life, my mother had a collection of different kinds of weaves and other handicrafts.”

Her eyes moisten as she talks of her mother. “My mother was a great soul who had inspired me to revive the various crafts of the region. She used to tell me that there was a need to revive these crafts. She was austere but artistic,” she said.

She was more close to her father. “He was a role model for me. My mother was more strict and that most probably that helped me imbibe the right values,” she said.

She has taken the Assamese mekhela chador to the different countries of the world. “I sometimes wear the mekhela like a sarong and take the chador in a Thai style. I have stopped wearing the saree altogether. The mekhela chador has been appreciated all over the world,” she said.

Though she was born in Assam, Dutta has led all her life outside the state. Educated at Maharani Gayatri Devi School in Jaipur and Lady Shriram College, Delhi, Dutta used to long for the holidays she spent in Assam. Married to a tea executive and mother of two daughters, Smeeta and Preeta, she was in Guwahati for seven years and is at present based in Calcutta.

In 1988-89, she was the convener of the Assam chapter of Intach. “I have been travelling to Assam every month since then,” she said.

Dutta felt that the handicrafts of Assam need some improvisation with the changing market trends. “We need to improve our basketry and cane work to reach out to a wider market,” she said.

Some of the exotic innovations by the council like eco-friendly bags made of cane, fabric and even water hyacinth, seetal pati rugs and paintings, lamp shades and gift containers were displayed at the Guwahati Press Club.

“We are trying to introduce a new type of art form and have coined it Kaziranga and Chitralekha paintings. Here we have innovated and depicted Krishna with Gopikas attired in mekhala chadors, traditional Mising and Rabha dress,” she added.

Her younger daughter Preeta, who makes ad films, inspired her to come up with the Symbiosis range. This range included products like umbrellas made of muga silk with a Thai touch. “We have tried to fusion crafts of Assam with that of Bengal, Rajasthan and Gujarat,” she said.

She plans to showcase Assamese crafts to the outside world by holding an international crafts festival in the city soon. “We will need infrastructure of global standards to take the initiative,” she said. The Crafts Council of India will hold its annual Kamala exhibition in Guwahati from January 19, next year.

The council has promoted regional crafts with emphasis on quality. “We are trying to change the mindset of the craftsmen to make attractive and market-friendly products. We will lay stress on eliminating the role of middlemen and let the craftsmen have a direct link with the market,” she said.

The council has been able to provide international exposure to a few craftspeople from Assam.

In March 2003, two craftsmen from Barpeta were selected to attend a Unesco meet at Kuala Lumpur. One of the artisans, Imran Hussain, who attended, went on to win the Kamaladevi Centenary Award.

In September 2003, two artisans, Narmohan Das and Subhalakshmi Kropi, were taken to Kuching in Sarawak, east Malaysia to attend an international seminar and workshop.

In order to provide handy literature to popularise the crafts of Assam, the council has bought out a small brochure to help sell these goods. “We have also published a book on Assamese jewellery to help popularise this beautiful craft and another book on the exotic masks of Majuli,” she said.

“I feel nostalgic every time I come to Assam. I have travelled all over the world, but I get a refreshing feeling every time I land in Guwahati,” she said.

Teresa Rehman