Our Master Artisan - Nirmala

-Bharagavi Shankar-Voulanteer@Team buDa

We’d like to introduce you to another key team member at Buda Folklore,

Nirmala-akka.

The very mention of Nirmala-akka and one would picture the smiling lady, clad in bright earthy colours, brass bead chains, the big kumkum adorning her forehead and tirelessly working on a quilt. When she isn’t at the fields, she is at the front yard of her house patching a quilt and ensuring every small piece of thread and cloth is used judiciously.

Nirmala-akka is a master craftsman at Buda folklore. She is amongst the few women folk in Haliyal village who keep the art of crafting a Khaudi alive. For women folk in the village, Nirmalakka is a craftsman par excellence. They seek her help in giving finishing touches to their quilts, setting right a few erroneous stitches, for new ideas on patterns et al. They believe that the needle that she uses and the place where she sits are bestowed with magical powers. There is invariably a tussle amongst them to use her needle or hijack her seat! To return her favour, these women folk work on her fields for a day.

To her students in Bangalore, she is a fine teacher and an epitome of patience. On Day 1 of the quilting workshop she surprises her students with the ease with which she measures the six yard saree, makes a small cut and then with a neat motion of her hands, tears it into two, folding it into layers that forms the base of the quilt. She repeats the exercise for every participant and the size of each one of them almost identical – she doesn’t juggle with measuring tapes, rulers and cutting boards; just pure sense of judgement!

She then rations out a ball of thread and ‘suji’ (needle) to every participant and then cautions them not to waste the thread or loose the suji. To drive home the point, she repeats her instructions couple more times. But well, understanding instructions is one part of the game and the other is following it. All participants try hard, but unfortunately Murphy’s Law kicks in at all the right moments. The first signs of someone losing their needle, she would shake her head in despair. She would also pick up small bits of thread and fabric lying around and pile it all up in a basket to reuse.

 She is a true – blue perfectionist too! When it is time to fix the gubbis (Tassels at the corners) to the quilt, she inspects the colour and size. If one were to choose the pale, pastel colours she would give a wry smile and hand out her bright shocking pink gubbi to be fixed. The size of these ‘gubbis’ moreover ought to be a perfect square; no trapezium and rectangular shapes are accepted. If she does come across one, she would give a quizzical look and laugh mockingly at your sense of geometry.

Most often her students do not speak or understand the dialect she is speaking but everybody gets it spot-on on what she is trying to convey. She largely believes in the “observe – implement - practice” concept.  Whether it is running her needle on her scalp to grease it or her sitting posture while she is sewing or the way she handles the needle and cloth - students observe, quip to themselves sometimes  but later realise that it is a tried and tested formula and therefore slowly start to implement it.
Nirmala-akka hasn’t had any formal education in art, but the manner in which she puts together colours and patterns in a jiffy is remarkable. She has kept pace with modern trends and has creatively used the patterns used on Khudhis(quilts) while designing mobile(cell-phone) pouches and hand bags. She even reels off names of these colourful patterns – Krishnar thottil, Ramar Thottil, Balli,Ther etc. 

She hasn’t had any formal education in teaching or psychology either, but she very rightly senses the mood of her students – she gives a stern look when she senses distraction or is unhappy with the stitching, coaxes students and eggs them on to sew faster when spirits are low and also offers to sew a few lines on their behalf.

Nirmala-akka also dons the chief chef’s hat at Buda Folklore for our culinary workshops and tours. She is a great cook and dishes out local coastal recipes with great love and finesse. It is a treat to watch her artfully handle the dough and role out chappatis.

                     

If you’d like to learn about traditional hand made quilts and some delectable receipes from Nirmalakka, join us for one our workshops.