TRUE IMPRESSIONS

Old traditions, new hands: the art of Indian block printing has changed as much as it has stayed the same. This is a special on-ground report with the new kids on the block.

- MINITA MAKIJA

Hard to conceive that some genius—by a mix of creative, nonconformist thinking and serendipity—chanced upon a wooden block, decided to carve a design, embellished it with natural pigments, and transferred it onto fabric, for no other reason than the sheer joy of beauty. Then, of course, it took many people, many decades and many interventions for block printing to be the refined art form and huge commerce that it is today. Even so, artisans, day in and day out, in a meditative trance, play with symmetry to bring designers’ visions to life on a printing table; in pretty much the same way our ancestors did.