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WORK TITLE: Pukka Indian
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CITY: Paris
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1. Pukka Indian : 100 objects that define India
LCCN
2017347198
Type of material
Book
Personal name
Nandan, Jahnvi Dameron, author.
Main title
Pukka Indian : 100 objects that define India / Jahnvi Lakhota Nandan ; photographer, Shivani Gupta.
Published/Produced
New Delhi : Lustre Press, Roli Books, [2017]
Description
223 pages : illustrations (colour) ; 25 cm
ISBN
9789351941408 (hardback)
935194140X
Item not available at the Library. Why not?
PERSONAL
Born in Lucknow, India.
EDUCATION:Attended School of Art and Design (Tsukuba, Japan).
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and perfumer. Perfume Library, Paris, France and New Delhi, India, proprietor.
WRITINGS
Also, author of Tokyo Style File: A Shopping Guide.
SIDELIGHTS
Jahnvi Lakhota Nandan is an Indian writer and perfumer. She studied architecture at the School of Art and Design, in Tsukuba, Japan. Nandan is the proprietor of a fragrance shop called the Perfume Library, which has locations in Paris, France and New Delhi, India. She told Merin James, contributor to the DT Next website: “I am aware of Indian perfumery compositions, but I have a Japanese aesthetic too, and my fragrances incorporate French styles, as well. I think we are a sum of our experiences, and I am therefore a happy blend of these experiences.”
In 2017, Nandan released Pukka Indian: 100 Objects That Define India. In the book, she identifies important Indian-created objects that have been influential throughout the country’s long history. In an interview with Shraddha Jahagirdar-Saxena, contributor to the Verve website, she explained how her educational background inspired her to explore the subjects in the book. She stated: “Coming from a product design school, I think it was natural for me to question objects of daily use. Objects like the bangle, bindi, pressure cooker, sari blouse, dupatta, tandoor were part of a long tradition of the design of household objects.” Nandan continued: “Objects like the Kalnirnay calendar, bahi-khata for bookkeeping, and the mandira—a tool used to churn milk into butter—uniquely reflect Indian habits like churning and calculating, gestures I became acutely aware of while studying architecture design at the School of Art and Design, University of Tsukuba. Here, I realised that few contemporary cultures have as close a relationship with objects that were invented 5,000-7,000 years ago as India does.” Nandan added: “Kitchen tools like the tava—the oldest of utensils in India used to roast the country’s staple food, the roti—are a testament to this long and uninterrupted use of objects. Design thus became the chain linking the last two decades of my life; the chain that propelled me to this architecture school and brought me to Paris to design with smell, the most elusive of all materials, which in India finds expression through incense.” Nandan also discusses the history of Indian design in the book, a topic she also elaborated on in conversation with Komal Sharma, writer on the LiveMint website. Nandan stated: “The first wave of design was during the freedom movement, which gave birth to brands and products that were essentially about national identity. The second period was in the 1950s when new products came up driven by the new material of stainless steel. It led to our own mid-century modern design, our own Bauhaus. Godrej is one of the companies that propagated that. The third wave was the 1990s, when India opened up economically. Design obviously follows economic and political currents.” Shivani Gupta contributed photographs to Pukka Indian. Regarding her choice to work with Gupta, Nandan told Surya Praphulla Kumar, contributor to the Hindu website: “I was very keen to work with someone who had the courage to shoot objects in the everyday, rather than in contrived environments. I wanted the book to be unabashedly natural, the way India is—neither kitsch nor lavish.”
A Publishers Weekly reviewer offered a favorable assessment of Pukka Indian. The reviewer described the volume as a “terrific design book” and asserted: “Nandan’s thoughtful work is sure to strike a pang of homesickness among her fellow expats.” Shiny Varghese, critic on the Indian Express website, remarked: “From the Kalnirnay calendar, to the chakla-belan, from the datum to the neti pot, and from the note mala to the planter’s chair, each reflect Indian habits that are a part of our everyday. Ultimately, through the book, one finds how the symbolic and the material intersect and influence our lives.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Publishers Weekly, May 14, 2018, review of Pukka Indian: 100 Objects That Define India, p. 44.
ONLINE
DT Next, https://www.dtnext.in/ (May 1, 2018), Merin James, author interview.
Hindu Online, https://www.thehindu.com/ (October 27, 2017), Surya Praphulla Kumar, author interview and review of Pukka Indian.
Indian Express Online, https://indianexpress.com/ (November 6, 2017), Shiny Varghese, author interview and review of Pukka Indian.
LiveMint, https://www.livemint.com/ (November 24, 2017), Komal Sharma, author interview.
New Indian Express Online, http://www.newindianexpress.com/ (May 3, 2018), Vaishali Vijaykumar, author interview and review of Pukka Indian.
Platform, http://www.platform-mag.com/ (September 5, 2018), Pankhuri Shukla, author interview.
Verve, http://www.vervemagazine.in/ (May 17, 2018), Shraddha Jahagirdar-Saxena, author interview.
Pukka Indian
Pukka Indian
The idea of what comprises ‘India’ has attracted immense dialogue and debate ever since the notion of an ‘identity’ was thrust upon us by forces we did not invite. And even though not all of us will agree with each other’s definitions of it, our every day lives have a very different story to tell. They’re united, not by the language we speak or the region we reside in, rather by the objects we use in the closed spaces of our homes. Jahnvi Lakhota Nandan’s Pukka Indian is a pictorial attempt at exploring ‘100 Objects That Define India’ and how they’ve transformed through time.
As someone who has studied architecture, Jahnvi’s interest in observing the peculiarities of commonplace objects and a close relationship with trying to understand what ‘home’ meant, led her to explore elements of Indian design in objects that one is likely to find lying around in some corner of the house. “The sheer number of noteworthy objects makes choosing what to include and what not to in a book like this extraordinarily complicated. So I chose to create a portrait of Indian design”, she writes.
Bindi, Ghungroo, Hindustan Ambassador, Bartan—Pukka Indian is a photographic collection of 100 such objects that have been quietly existing for decades and centuries. The book traces their evolution over the years and the silent mysteries surrounding their origin.
What inspired you to come up with this unique list of ‘100 Objects that define India’?
It's from the time I was an architecture student in Japan; I started looking closely at everyday objects. And of course when you're distanced from the places where you grew up you are more conscious about things you do back home and the objects you use, and that becomes your memory of it.
It also happens that my family and I have travelled extensively. I’ve lived in many homes around the world. I have even had to make a home in a hotel, twice in my life, which was fun too. So naturally, you develop a very non-material approach to life. You also develop a love for certain objects that you absolutely must have regardless of where you live. This book offers an insight into what constitutes our home. I urge people to not take the design of objects for granted but to question and to enjoy them.
Pukka Indian Auto Rickshaw Meter. Origin: 1977
Auto Rickshaw Meter. Origin: 1977
Pukka Indian Cycle Rickshaw. Origin: Around 1880
Cycle Rickshaw. Origin: Around 1880
How did the research shape up and how did you go about tracking the history of each of these everyday objects?
The research was extremely difficult and therefore the book took longer than I would've hoped. Firstly, there aren't any written documents about most of the objects in the book. One of the most important ways for me to track the design of these every day objects was through the etymology of their names. I also referred to similar works on some of these objects that are listed in the bibliography at the end. I looked at similar typographies of objects around the world and how those objects evolved and if India followed a similar path, e.g. the Godrej CH-4 chair and the Bauhaus movement.
The objects seem predominantly representative of the northern half of the country barring a few like Lungi, Sevnazhi etc. Was this a conscious decision?
That's not the intention. For example, in the text on the mangalsutra, I describe how the design changes around the country. There were many reasons why these objects were chosen, one of the most important reasons was the fact that these objects are used nationwide. Their origins might have been in a particular part of the country, but they find use nation wide.
Pukka Indian Banta. Origin: 1870s, Delhi
Banta. Origin: 1870s, Delhi
Pukka Indian Shatranj. Origin: Before 500 CE
Shatranj. Origin: Before 500 CE
How did you manage to include a little bit of everything in ‘100 Objects’?
It's very specifically articles of product design that exhibit a certain kind of unique attitude of design in India. It's also products that have mostly originated in India or those that have been adopted by Indians and given a new lease of life.
‘100 Objects’ is an interesting mix of traditional things, like Datun and Hindustan Ambassador, as well as contemporary things like the iconic Tata Nano and LPG – how did you weigh the relevance of both kinds of objects?
For me, it’s all about product design. I am not so concerned with what is considered traditional and what is not. Of course, history and the change of design and therefore, the change in use and functionality in time is important, and I have tried to recount the same with as much accuracy as possible. For example, the evolution of the murha; it is an object that was created 2000 years ago. It was only later that they came to have a backrest and acquired an even greater meaning in everyday lives. Earthen water pots have taps now and that is what keeps them relevant.
Pukka Indian Chyawanprash. Origin: Around 1 CE
Chyawanprash. Origin: Around 1 CE
Pukka Indian Desert Cooler. Origin: 1950s
Desert Cooler. Origin: 1950s
Has the design of everyday life in India undergone a transformation in the last few decades? How is design shaping life in contemporary India?
The kitchen has undergone the most amount of transition; from being on the floor for over 6000 years, to a sudden introduction of the platform in the 1950s; I have included many tools from the Indian kitchen because these were the first products in India. Utensils were used for ritualistic purposes. Basins with a rim that resemble the patila came into existence in the proto-historic period. Water storage systems used today, like the surahi or the matka, are similar to the ones used for Vedic water rituals. These objects have survived for so long because of their dual use in the Indian society–both ritual and domestic.
From the thousands of kitchen tools that are used in Indian cooking, I chose those products that were catalysts of change. For example, for centuries cooking took place on the floor, either in courtyards or in communal kitchens and women prepared three hot meals a day while squatting around a stove implanted into the floor. But in the 1950s the arrival of LPG cylinders that needed to be stocked below the cooking range necessitated a revolution. Cooking moved upwards from the ground to cooking counters or platforms. Recipes changed too as new kitchen tools came into being. Pressure cookers, already in existence around the world by the 1950s, were redesigned to cook large quantities of food.
The Sumeet mixer, too, relegated hand-operated stone grinders to the storeroom, as its motor was strong enough to sustain the grinding necessary for making idlis out of dal and rice grain. The importance of the mixer lies not in the innovativeness of its design but in the fact that it transformed the way women cooked. Along with the pressure cooker, it led to the emancipation of the housewife–also making the process of preparing fresh food thrice a day easier.
Credits:
Text and Photographs by Jahnvi Lakhóta Nandan, Shivani Gupta
Published by Roli Books
Text Pankhuri Shukla
QUOTED: "The first wave of design was during the freedom movement, which gave birth to brands and products that were essentially about national identity. The second period was in the 1950s when new products came up driven by the new material of stainless steel. It led to our own mid-century modern design, our own Bauhaus. Godrej is one of the companies that propagated that. The third wave was the 1990s, when India opened up economically. Design obviously follows economic and political currents."
Home » Leisure
Objects of affection
As a new book captures India’s design history in 100 objects, we look at seven of them and a collage of what’s uniquely India emerges
Last Published: Fri, Nov 24 2017. 02 50 PM IST
Komal Sharma
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Jahnvi Lakĥóta Nandan at the Good Earth store in Raghuvanshi Mills, Mumbai. Photo: Abhijit Bhatlekar/Mint
Jahnvi Lakĥóta Nandan at the Good Earth store in Raghuvanshi Mills, Mumbai. Photo: Abhijit Bhatlekar/Mint
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In the book A History Of The World In 100 Objects, Neil MacGregor, former director of the British Museum, captured over two million years of human history in 100 objects. In another delightful book titled At Home: A Short History Of Private Life, American author Bill Bryson takes a tour of his own home, and through domestic objects narrates the history of humankind. Closer home, in a coffee-table book called Sār: The Essence Of Indian Design, authors Swapnaa Tamhane and Rashmi Varma portray an Indian design identity through 200 objects, ranging from icons like the Hindustan Ambassador to a quotidian thing like a hawai chappal (flip-flop).
Earlier this month, author and perfumer Jahnvi Lakĥóta Nandan released her new book, Pukka Indian: 100 Objects That Define India (Roli Books). The book captures the vast landscape of Indian design, tied to the social and political history of the country, and, most remarkably, reveals the continuity of tradition that makes Indian design unique. It includes everyday objects like the chimta-tava (tongs and pan) that have no singular date of origin or authorship, contraptions like the desert cooler that embody a typically Indian ingenuity, and symbols of modernity like Godrej’s CH-4 chair and almirah. It’s a fun, nostalgic re-visiting of our childhood homes and the story of things we’ve grown up with.
Nandan, however, is clear about the intent of the book being more than a feel-good nostalgic trip. “Nostalgia rarely plays a role in my work. Memory does,” she says.
“I have lived in 25 different homes and my father has lived in 54 different homes. While writing this book, I questioned people about what are those objects that they would carry with them if they were to move homes.”
As Lounge features seven objects from Pukka Indian, Nandan talks to us about the making of the book and adds trivia to the individual histories of objects.
Bahi-khata books. Photographs courtesy Roli Books
Bahi-khata books. Photographs courtesy Roli Books
Bahi-khata
Nandan’s unpacking of this red cloth-covered book that represents the double-entry bookkeeping tradition of India ranges from its history, the materials it is made of, to its evolution over the years. While she traces the origin as the accounting book of “merchants across the subcontinent to record financial transactions”, she looks to the future to see how it has evolved. “Bahi-khata books have spawned a whole new industry of cloth-covered diaries and books,” she writes in the book.
Godrej CH-4
Nandan identifies three waves of India’s design history. “The first wave of design was during the freedom movement, which gave birth to brands and products that were essentially about national identity. The second period was in the 1950s when new products came up driven by the new material of stainless steel. It led to our own mid-century modern design, our own Bauhaus. Godrej is one of the companies that propagated that. The third wave was the 1990s, when India opened up economically. Design obviously follows economic and political currents,” she says.
Desert cooler.
Desert cooler.
Desert cooler
Nandan writes about informal design and how, over time, traditional things are re-engineered for efficiency. “In the 18th century, people in India cooled spaces during hot summer months with a humid woven grass or textile filter positioned between the hot air outside and the room inside. A manually operated fan placed behind the grass curtain pushed hot air through the moisture-laden filter, cooling down the room considerably. In the 1950s, this led to the ingenious creation of the desert cooler,” she writes in the book.
Sevnazhi, a manual press that is used to make sev or fried savouries.
Sevnazhi, a manual press that is used to make sev or fried savouries.
Sevnazhi
The Indian kitchen is clearly a thriving space for design. For instance, consider sevnazhi, a manual press that is used to make sev or fried savouries. Nandan, who went to the School of Art and Design at Tsukuba University in Japan, learns from contrasting cultures. “When you’re distanced from your country of birth, you start considering the objects you grew up with. Between Japanese and Indian cultures, some objects are common, and many not. For instance, the Japanese have elaborate bathing rituals. In India, the extensive objects are always in the kitchen. Even when the rest of the house is spartan, the kitchen will be full of things,” she says.
Photographs courtesy Roli Books
Photographs courtesy Roli Books
Ghungroo
The book dwells on the significance of “the unisex dancer’s accessory” as “the heart of every beat of the foot; what would have otherwise been just a flat thump on the floor is transformed into a reverberating melody,” writes Nandan. While she herself practises Bharatanatyam, the photographer of the book, Shivani Gupta, is a Mohiniattam dancer, and the editor, Radhika Jha, an Odissi dancer. “Indian dance is a constant quest of aesthetics. To me, this was also to explore what it means to express an aesthetic in dance or in photographs or in a book,” says Nandan.
Shuttlecock.
Shuttlecock.
Shuttlecock
Nandan attempts to capture history but also reveals the beauty of form and function. “Shivani (Gupta) photographed some things in natural settings and some were stylized. With the shuttlecock, for instance, we wanted to convey the beauty of the form. Everyone has played with it, but you don’t think about all the feathers that go into its making. So you unravel the object and put it back together,” says Nandan.
ncense is very sophisticated perfumery.
ncense is very sophisticated perfumery.
Agarbatti
Nandan contrasts Indian design and its principals with other schools of thought. “In places like Japan and Germany, the tendency to categorize things as good or bad design is strong. In India, that seldom has meaning. If you take incense, the argument is not about good or bad design. Incense is very sophisticated perfumery.The use of incense ranges from pleasing the gods to controlling elephants to drying your hair. It’s beyond good design and bad design. You could break it down as the length of the stick and how the smoke rises from it, the form, etc., but its essence is much deeper than that,” she says.
QUOTED: "I am aware of Indian perfumery compositions but I have a Japanese aesthetic too and my fragrances incorporate French styles as well. I think we are a sum of our experiences and I am therefore a happy blend of these experiences."
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Renowned author-perfumer Jahnvi Lakhota Nandan talks to us about the inspiration behind her book, Pukka Indian and The Perfume Library, a space dedicated to the design of perfumes based on memories. Her book will be launched today at Amethyst.
(L) Jahnvi Lakhota Nandan; (R) cover of the book Pukka Indian
(L) Jahnvi Lakhota Nandan; (R) cover of the book Pukka Indian
Chennai: The illustrated book, Pukka Indian , brings together a hundred objects that are the most coveted symbols that represent Indian culture and design. The book talks about diversity, versatility, vibrancy, and colours of design icons ranging from kulhad to the Kolhapuri chappal, Nano to the Nehru jacket, and auto rickshaw meter to the Ambassador car, that set them apart in a country as multifarious as India. “Objects like Kalnirnay calendar, bahi-khata for bookkeeping, Mandira, a tool used to churn milk into butter, reflect unique Indian habits that I became acutely aware of while studying architecture design at the School of Art and Design at Tsukuba, Japan. I realised that our contemporary culture has a close relationship with objects that were designed 5,000-7,000 years ago. The design thus became the chain linking the last two decades of my life — the chain that propelled me to architecture school and that brought me to Paris to design with the most elusive of all materials — smell,” Jahnvi starts the conversation.
She says that design in India is not entirely determined by the aesthetic appeal of the object, but by the significance of the object in everyday life, and is often influenced by its users. In some instances, the age-old practices established by ancient Indian wisdom determine the design of an object, such as the datun (neem tree twig) recommended for oral care or agarbatti (incense) used to heal and protect. On the other hand, the lota (a kind of metal pot) has been a part of everyday Indian life for centuries and its design remains unchanged even today, says the author.
The Paris-based perfumer was inspired by the Dymaxion of Buckminster Fuller, BV Doshi and his vision of modern India, tools used in the Indian kitchen and the presence of spirituality and symbolism in Indian design. “I think creativity is at the core of Indian culture. The design is concerned with finding solutions and in a country plagued with so many problems, there is automatically an enormous space for design solutions,” she explains.
For her, the design is as Buckminster Fuller once said, ‘the deliberate ordering of rather disparate components’. Her second major project — The Perfume Library (in New Delhi and Paris) is a curated collection of rare and exclusive perfumes. “I am aware of Indian perfumery compositions but I have a Japanese aesthetic too and my fragrances incorporate French styles as well. I think we are a sum of our experiences and I am therefore a happy blend of these experiences,” Jahnvi concludes.
QUOTED: "Coming from a product design school, I think it was natural for me to question objects of daily use. Objects like the bangle, bindi, pressure cooker, sari blouse, dupatta, tandoor were part of a long tradition of the design of household objects."
"Objects like the Kalnirnay calendar, bahi-khata for bookkeeping, and the mandira—a tool used to churn milk into butter—uniquely reflect Indian habits like churning and calculating, gestures I became acutely aware of while studying architecture design at the School of Art and Design, University of Tsukuba. Here, I realised that few contemporary cultures have as close a relationship with objects that were invented 5,000-7,000 years ago as India does."
"Kitchen tools like the tava—the oldest of utensils in India used to roast the country’s staple food, the roti—are a testament to this long and uninterrupted use of objects. Design thus became the chain linking the last two decades of my life; the chain that propelled me to this architecture school and brought me to Paris to design with smell, the most elusive of all materials, which in India finds expression through incense."
HOME PEOPLE SHAPES OF INDIA: JAHNVI LAKHOTA NANDAN’S PUKKA INDIAN
VERVE PEOPLE
MAY 17, 2018
SHAPES OF INDIA: JAHNVI LAKHOTA NANDAN’S PUKKA INDIAN
Text by Shraddha Jahagirdar-Saxena
Jahnvi Lakhota Nandan’s book Pukka Indian is a vibrant celebration of desi design and the narrative gives a historical reference to the chosen products that are part of the lifestyle and social fabric of the country
Jahnvi Lakhota Nandan
Jahnvi Lakhota Nandan
Zooming in on a curated list of 100 definitive objects, Jahnvi Lakhota Nandan’s book Pukka Indian is a vibrant celebration of desi design. Through its pages, it presents images of products drawn from an Indian context and spotlights familiar shapes — like the lota, matka, dabba, agarbattis, the Sumeet mixer, the Ambassador car and more — that have dotted everyday life in the country.
Believing that the form of anything is largely driven by innovation and utility, the author looks at issues, causes and events that have been instrumental in creating things that are today icons of India. It is fascinating to read the tale of each item — as the narrative gives a historical reference to the chosen products that are part of the lifestyle and social fabric of the country.
Interestingly, the Lucknow-born writer lives and works as a perfumer in Paris. Having studied perfumery and armed with a doctorate in architecture design, she has also penned Tokyo Style File: A Shopping Guide. In an interaction with Verve, Jahnvi speaks about how her passion has shaped her life….
A banta or marble plugs the bottles that open with a pop
A banta or marble plugs the bottles that open with a pop
How would you interpret design?
The word is hard to describe. One must look at its starting point through materials, designers, forms, and also the purpose for which the product was created. For me, design is as R. Buckminster Fuller once described it — the deliberate ordering of rather disparate components.
What sparked your interest in this field?
Since childhood, I have been interested in the making of things. I did have the opportunity to go to a school in Japan that specialises in product design, and that wonderful place inspired me because I was able to look into the close details of small objects like flower vases as well as large objects like cars. Although I studied architecture, the environment around me was that of product design. I also had the opportunity to look closely into the design of a spaceship, because the professors working in the neighbouring laboratory were in charge of designing furniture for spaceships. All this fed my imagination.
A sil batta, a flat mortar-and-pestle grinder that is used in many kitchens
A sil batta, a flat mortar-and-pestle grinder that is used in many kitchens
How did the idea for Pukka Indian come about?
Coming from a product design school, I think it was natural for me to question objects of daily use. Objects like the bangle, bindi, pressure cooker, sari blouse, dupatta, tandoor were part of a long tradition of the design of household objects. Objects like the Kalnirnay calendar, bahi-khata for bookkeeping, and the mandira — a tool used to churn milk into butter — uniquely reflect Indian habits like churning and calculating, gestures I became acutely aware of while studying architecture design at the School of Art and Design, University of Tsukuba. Here, I realised that few contemporary cultures have as close a relationship with objects that were invented 5,000-7,000 years ago as India does. Kitchen tools like the tava — the oldest of utensils in India used to roast the country’s staple food, the roti — are a testament to this long and uninterrupted use of objects. Design thus became the chain linking the last two decades of my life; the chain that propelled me to this architecture school and brought me to Paris to design with smell, the most elusive of all materials, which in India finds expression through incense.
Having lived and studied abroad, how Indian is your sensibility?
I practise Indian classical dance and am very aware of Indian perfumery compositions, but I do know that I have a very Japanese aesthetic too, and my fragrances incorporate French styles as well. I think we are a sum of our experiences and I am, therefore, a happy blend of mine.
A masala dabba has different components to store spices
A masala dabba has different components to store spices
What was the starting point and extent of your research for Pukka Indian?
It was a few texts that I wrote on the meaning of design. I was very inspired by the Dymaxion concept of R. Buckminster Fuller, B. V. Doshi and his vision of modern India, tools used in the Indian kitchen which are very different from Japanese design, and the presence of spirituality and symbolism in Indian design. We did extensive research — we looked in the archives, studied documents, and conducted interviews not just with designers but also with fiction writers who have used these objects.
In Pukka Indian, you have created a ‘portrait of Indian design’. What were the challenges in shortlisting the ‘100 objects that define India’?
This was quite a feat. We sat down with the publishers and had an ongoing conversation for almost a year on what should go on that list. So, though the choice of products has been limited to 100 classics that have changed India’s landscape, I have also considered their time of design. The most contemporary design unique to India was created in the last 100 years, starting with that which was born out of the Swadeshi movement. But an exceptional quality of materials, skills and construction is also seen in timeless objects such as the lota, the simplest object of everyday use. Therefore, the list of products covered in the book equally includes traditional as well as contemporary design. While choosing them, I gave special attention to products that were uniquely Indian or products that resonated with an Indian language or form such as the Ambassador car.
The idli pathram is used to prepare a favourite indian breakfast offering
The idli pathram is used to prepare a favourite indian breakfast offering
Which was the first object on your list?
Right from the inception I did have a considerably large list of at least 50 objects. And this list kept changing with additions and subtractions being made depending on the various conversations I had with people. Since its inception there were a couple of objects that were a given, such as the Ambassador car and the kulhad. There were some other objects that were perhaps less obvious — such as the petrol pump.
Which elements in your personal life left a lasting impact on you?
I don’t practise perfumery — what is considered the most complex and is often called the last bastion of design. Turning the invisible into the visible is such an important part of my day-to-day life now. This has, on the one hand, brought me closer to the problems of design, whereas distancing me from its materiality. I work with the shapeless material, and try to give form to it. This is intellectually stimulating and challenging at the same time.
Kolhapuri chappals are recycled footwear that became fashionable
Kolhapuri chappals are recycled footwear that became fashionable
Design plays an integral role in the Indian social fabric….
My entire book is about its relevance in the Indian context. Sometimes, as in the case of the book, I celebrate all that is wonderful in the Indian scenario.
What role does an object’s material play in its ultimate form?
Shape and form, the most visible aspects of design, are given great importance in India, but represent only one aspect of the whole. Matter or material is equally important because it gives form to an object. Material comes from the word ‘metre’; a unit of measure, and the word ‘measure’ comes from the Sanskrit word maya that means illusion. Often, the choice of material is based on the abundant availability and the relatively low cost of a certain material. For example, Godrej started making its CH-4 chairs because steel was subsidised by the Indian government. Organic materials such as cow dung for handcrafted design, would be considered with a certain amount of caution, if not outright disbelief, but not in India — where the multiple facets of cow dung usage read as an anthology of ingenuity.
The cycle rickshaw is a mainstay of transport in several parts of the country
The cycle rickshaw is a mainstay of transport in several parts of the country
Does the Indian sensibility veer towards a particular genre?
Yes, definitely. The decorative aspects, particularly surface embellishment, play a historic role in Indian design — its origins go back to the making of utensils for gods. It is also reflected in the design of kitchen tools where traditionally utensils were used to cook as well as serve; they were used in temples as well as homes. Ancient utensils used during rituals gave rise to those for daily use. Some like the deep, rimmed patelas for boiling milk exist from the later Vedic period and were used both in temples and homes for the same purpose. This combination of the sacred and the profane is unique. The design combined both decorative and utilitarian elements. This is the reason why the objects can be used for multiple things — for cooking, storing and serving.
What impact does the context of the creation of an object have on its design?
This is a great question and is perhaps at the root of design. The word itself is hard to describe. We tend to take the design of an object for granted. We are mostly interested in using things. This is a very natural human reaction. As human beings, we tend to create objects that will then amplify our behaviour and all our actions.
The Godrej typewriter was the first-ever manual typewriter made in Asia
The Godrej typewriter was the first-ever manual typewriter made in Asia
Design appeals to all the senses, not just the visual….
Absolutely! It must appeal to all the senses. This kind of very integrated cohesive design is quite complex.
In India, jugaad drives many aspects of life. What role do you think it plays in the design of objects?
I am not particularly interested in jugaad, when the result is merely reductive. It is however interesting to find solutions through scarcity. This is a model that has now been adopted all around the world.
The auto rickshaw meter calculates the fare at the end of a ride
The auto rickshaw meter calculates the fare at the end of a ride
The world has moved ahead in terms of technology and sophistication. How relevant are ancient Indian designs in this scenario?
Indian designs have constantly involved and included sophisticated technologies. Even during the Harappan period, simple kitchen tools such as the skillet and the tong for making rotis was an extremely ingenious and innovative response to the conditions around. If you take a simple thing such as the box for chapattis, it is fascinating to note how over thousands of years its material has evolved from terracotta to metal and now it is available in various polymers.
How can traditional design co-exist harmoniously with new-age developments?
This is what traditional cultures like India teach us. We don’t need to choose between the old and the new, because tradition is still current, and current defines the future. Cultures like ours are unbroken. This thread of continuity is expressed in design too.
The dhobi istri is an indigenous version of the steam iron
The dhobi istri is an indigenous version of the steam iron
Indian design has stood the test of time. Your take….
Creativity is at the core of Indian culture. Design is concerned with finding solutions and in a country plagued with so many problems, there is automatically an enormous space for design solutions. Indian design often includes all the senses including taste and touch and this is one of its unique characteristics.
The Ch-4 chair is India’s first modernist workspace chair with steel tubing
The Ch-4 chair is India’s first modernist workspace chair with steel tubing
It is constantly evolving. But we need to innovate thousand times more than we are able to do at the moment. Having stood the test of time is just one of its unique aspects. The success of Indian design is because it continues to be flexible.
Tags: Featured, Jahnvi Lakhota Nandan, People, Pukka Indian
QUOTED: "terrific design book."
"Nandan's thoughtful work is sure to strike a pang of homesickness among her fellow expats."
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Pukka Indian: 100 Objects That Define
India
Publishers Weekly.
265.20 (May 14, 2018): p44+.
COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Pukka Indian: 100 Objects That Define India
Jahnvi Lakhota Nandan, photos by Shivani Gupta. Roli (ACC, dist.), $34.95 (224p) ISBN 978-93-5194-
140-8
India's multifaceted culture is on full display in this terrific design book, in which Indian expat Nandan
(Tokyo Style File) collects 100 objects that serve as social and political touchstones of Indian culture. The
selections include fixtures that have been around for millennia, such as charkha, a spinning wheel that dates
back to 500 CE, as well as more modern staples of Indian society, like the Tata Ace, a fuel-efficient
minitruck designed for small businesses owners in cities. Nandan includes mundane items, like Kalnirnay, a
popular paper calendar almanac that includes all the important dates of all of the major Indian religions, and
auspicious items like a note mala, a traditional garland of bank notes worn by grooms in wedding
ceremonies in Northern India. Each entry consists of a full-page photo accompanied by another full page
denoting the object's significance, applicability, and use. Nandan's thoughtful work is sure to strike a pang
of homesickness among her fellow expats, and will also leave armchair tourists with a better appreciation of
Indian culture and customs. Colorphotos. (Sept.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Pukka Indian: 100 Objects That Define India." Publishers Weekly, 14 May 2018, p. 44+. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A539387439/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=831d8eeb.
Accessed 8 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A539387439
QUOTED: "I was very keen to work with someone who had the courage to shoot objects in the everyday, rather than in contrived environments. I wanted the book to be unabashedly natural, the way India is—neither kitsch nor lavish."
BOOKS AUTHORS
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Archetypes and us
Surya Praphulla Kumar OCTOBER 27, 2017 15:59 IST
UPDATED: OCTOBER 27, 2017 15:59 IST
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The Hindu Weekend
From the agarbatti to the veena, perfumer Jahnvi Lakhota Nandan’s new book explores everyday forms that are uniquely Indian
Perfumer and author Jahnvi Lakhota Nandan has lived in over 25 houses. Her father, who travelled a lot, stayed in 54. For the longest time, one of the questions that intrigued her was: what are those objects that you’ll always keep with you? “I’ve asked so many different people and the response was so overwhelming. There was so much of emotion when they started talking about the Godrej cupboard, their first scooter,” she begins, explaining why she decided to work on the book, Pukka Indian - 100 objects that define India. Her career as a perfumer also added to it. “I work with the invisible, giving form to air, which then becomes a liquid, and finally goes into a solid shape. So you are constantly thinking about forms and shapes.”
Pukka Indian, which was launched four days ago, has been almost 10 years in the making, owing to lack of proper documentation. But books — like Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay’s Indian carpets and floor coverings and late NID professor MP Ranjan’s Handmade in India — and visits to museums, including Delhi’s National Museum, helped. “I also met with many people. A close friend who works in footwear introduced me to those who specialise in Kolhapuri chappals,” she says. Others included Vrunda Pathare of Godrej Archives (who helped with information on everything from the first lock to the first typewriter), Chanakya Oza (who shared his great grandfather’s recipe for Babuline gripe water), and Siddharth Lal (who shared the design directions of Royal Enfield).
Steel diaries
Godrej almirah: “Earlier, everything was stored in wood, which was unsafe. This cupboard, with its patented lever lock and a new-for-its-time safe, gave offices a safe place to store files, and families their clothing and jewels.”
Idli pathram: “This modern twist to an old design, which allowed the steel stand to be used in a pressure cooker, helped the healthy breakfast travel North and beyond, to foreign shores.”
Roti dabba: “Once made of terracota, the dabba evolved with the times. It represented a modern aesthetic, and also a move towards easier distribution of food.”
Form, structure and ingenuity
It was while studying architectural design at Japan’s School of Art and Design that Nandan realised “few contemporary cultures have as close a relationship with objects designed 7,000 years ago (like the tava)” as India does. “Material is also important in Indian design. Like the ingenuity of using cow dung for everything from adobe mortar to cooking kilns. Stainless steel, which was subsidised, represented modernity, giving rise to the Ch-4 chair, the typewriter and more. This is Indianness,” says the owner of Delhi-based The Perfume Library, sharing that she felt the number 100 was a good place to start the conversation on Indian design forms. “There were many criteria while finalising the list: it should be born in India (with a few exceptions like the Ambassador and the Royal Enfield, which were lovingly appropriated), the typology of the objects should be pan-India, and it should have had continued usage since its creation,” she says.
The book — in the pages of which each photograph is accompanied by detailed information on an object’s history, design and function — is a collaboration with photographer Shivani Gupta. “I was very keen to work with someone who had the courage to shoot objects in the everyday, rather than in contrived environments. I wanted the book to be unabashedly natural, the way India is — neither kitsch nor lavish,” she concludes.
Published by Roli Books, Pukka Indian is priced at ₹1,995.
QUOTED: "From the Kalnirnay calendar, to the chakla-belan, from the datum to the neti pot, and from the note mala to the planter’s chair, each reflect Indian habits that are a part of our everyday. Ultimately, through the book, one finds how the symbolic and the material intersect and influence our lives."
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From its cultural heritage to its industrial embrace, objects from India find mention in a book that honours form, material and memory
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Planter’s chair is among the products that are part of the book Pukka Indian: 100 objects that define India
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The mandira, used to make butter and buttermilk, is not just a wooden stick with blades. It takes on mythological connotations with the churn of the ocean, of Mount Meru and the gods and demons. The bahi-khata, the red cloth-covered notebook for bookkeeping, speaks of the business of recording trade in the subcontinent. The sari blouse is a statement about an egalitarian choice, which turned its back to class discrimination and wore propriety on its sleeve. Jahnvi Lakhota Nandan’s book Pukka Indian: 100 objects that define India (Roli Books; Rs 1,800), which released last week, is a design primer on the many aspects of an Indian home, seen through a cultural, religious, social and political lens.
Design distinguishes people and societies from one another, the objects that feature in the book tell of the role they play in our daily lives. From agarbattis to dhotis, pressure cookers to phool malas, and mangalsutras to inland letters, “their design is a mirror of our attitudes and habits,” says Nandan, “this book took six years, the list of objects alone took a year.” She works as a perfumer in Paris, and the book is her quest of making the invisible visible. Her doctorate in architecture design from the University of Tsukuba, Japan, made her obsess over form. The approach in the
book is of a product designer, using the tools of iconic association to highlight everyday products.
With photographs by Goa-based Shivani Gupta, which capture the context of each product as much as its form and design, the 223-page book devotes two pages each to an object and its cultural storyline. Objects are explained through art, films, literature, myths and rituals. In the chimta-tava, we read of Premchand’s Idgah story, where the new pair of tongs are the only possession of a mother and son, which also tells of its ubiquitous feature in every home. The chaidaan is explained through the story of the 2009 film Ek Cutting Chai, a love story of a maid and the chaiwala, spread across steaming cups of chai.
Some of the objects are presented in the light of India’s political history as well, from the Amrutanjan Balm, where its maker Panthulu was part of Gandhi’s Salt March, to Babuline Gripe Water, which was India’s infant colic competitor to London’s Woodward. These swadeshi tales may not be present in the modern imagination, but they lend a sense of nationhood through their origins. The book records the past and present of each of the 100 objects, connecting the dots sometimes through the diaspora as well.
Both Nandan and Gupta acknowledge the sense of nostalgia that the book presents, though for Nandan it was the material, shape and form of the object that privileged mention. “We have both learnt classical dance and for us even an outstretched arm is an emotion. For me the emotion in these objects is in their use, the applying of kajal, the sharing of paan, or the art of releasing the sweet smelling rosewater through a gulabpash,” says Nandan.
“I was entering into personal spaces of people for my photographs,” says Gupta, “When I went to my dhobi for a photo of the istri, I realised that he knows so much about my family, of clothes that belong to me and my father. For many people, things like the masala dabba or the bartan are personal,” she says.
Gupta’s photographs for the book are taken from homes across India, including markets of Goa and Delhi, and palaces and villages of Rajasthan.
“There are objects that we couldn’t include, which have native origins, such as buttons that were ornamental in the days of the Mughals, and khaki, which became uniform for Indian troops in British India,” says Nandan. She has congregated objects in the book, taking hints from Indian gestures of churning, combing and calculating, she says. From the Kalnirnay calendar, to the chakla-belan, from the datum to the neti pot, and from the note mala to the planter’s chair, each reflect Indian habits that are a part of our everyday. Ultimately, through the book, one finds how the symbolic and the material intersect and influence our lives.
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Jahnvi Lakhota Nandan’s latest book shows diversity in Indian designs. ‘Pukka Indian’ records 100 objects that are intimate to Indian households.
Published: 03rd May 2018 01:50 AM | Last Updated: 03rd May 2018 01:50 AM | A+A A-
The book includes objects under different categories like culinary equipment, wardrobe, and jewelleryBy Vaishali VijaykumarExpress News Service
CHENNAI: From the iconic godrej almarah to the majestic ambassador car, the book Pukka Indian records a collection of 100 objects that are intimate to Indian households. Every object is presented with the date of origin and materials that went into its creation. "A lot of research went into the book and it took many years to complete. When I started, many people underestimated the diversity in designs in India. Now I've proved them wrong," says author Jahnvi Lakhota Nandan. Born in Lucknow, the writer, traveller and perfumer currently shuttles between Paris and Goa.
The book captures the essence of objects from all parts of the country by giving it a balanced approach. "The key importance is that it treats all states equally and I have not really showed any differences. In fact, each object deserves a book of its own," says the author.
Agarbatti is the first of the symbols she talks about, probably because she is a perfumer. Next is the Amar Chitra Katha and it is the only printed graphic novel in her book. Known to have inspired many web series of the time, it definitely makes it one of a kind. Next comes Amrutanjan balm which was used by the soldiers during the second world war. The book goes on to include objects under different category like culinary equipment, furniture, wardrobe and jewellery. "A lot of people perhaps ask me where the design sense in India is heading towards? And, I think perhaps the only object in the book that is regressive is the chula or chimney. I also wanted to include a part that explains how a particular object can be used or a design can be worn," she says.
Jahnvi completed her degree in Architecture in Japan. "While Indian designs are sensible, Japanese designs are based on geometry and lines," she shares. When you take a close look, quite a few objects have gone places like the idli pathram which was native to South India. Now it has gone all the way North to introduce an item called idli. Meanwhile ch4 chairs have created a revolution during its period, used in most of the government offices. The Butaca chair has travelled all the way to Caribbean Islands, lost its arm there and went further up to the west coast. "Given a chance, I would have included the khaki uniform and buttons. Both originated in India," she tells us.
Jahnvi will also be launching her perfume called Eleven Visconti in Bombay shortly. The perfume, a combination of lemon and chilli flavour, is actually the object number 101. But it was created after the book was launched. "Perfumery demands intense training and studying over the years. You can smell different scents and guess the compositions but replicating them is the difficult part. India has some of the exquisite fragrances and I am lucky to be well-acquainted with the natural and synthetic palette ," she shares. She has just conceptualised the idea for her next book.
Jahnvi's favourite five
Goli soda bottle
Istri petti (charcoal iron box)
Choti (bridal hair extension)
Mandira (wooden churner)
Punkah (hand fan)
(Pukka Indian is available on Amazon for `1,596)