REFLECTING NATURE THROUGH DESIGN

RANKED AMONGST THE FIFTY MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE IN INDIA, SADHGURU IS A YOGI, MYSTIC, VISIONARY AND A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR SADHGURU HAS BEEN CONFERRED THE PADMA VIBHUSHAN BY THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA IN 2017, THE HIGHEST ANNUAL CIVILIAN AWARD, ACCORDED FOR EXCEPTIONAL AND DISTINGUISHED SERVICE- SADHGURU ISHA FOUNDATION

Sabyasachi Mukherjee: In the fashion industry, on one hand, we talk about individuality, and on the reverse, we also talk about mass production. Through advertising, we create an image that if you wear this luxury or fashion product, you are going to stand out. At the same time, we also make ten million pieces of it and manage to put a limited edition tag on it as well.

Sadhguru: Hoping two people with the same dress won’t meet!

Sabyasachi Mukherjee: Yes. I’ve also been a victim of that many times. I design for Indian weddings, and I don’t go to weddings anymore because I’m petrified that three women would be wearing the same outfit. But having said that, I think India can produce something that China cannot. What India can give to you is individuality. When you look at something that is created by hand, in the West, some quality control person is going to reject a piece if it is different from the others. But that is the true spirit of luxury, that things should be different from each other. And only things that are made by hand can be a unique product for a single person - even if it’s a very small difference.

Arundhathi: As an extension of that, I was wondering, given that the creative impulse also entails following a very individual imperative, and then making that meet market demands, how does one walk that very fine line?