"Swadeshi Mandi 2020"

Maha Mandi a trademark event of NITIE Mumbai, which serves as a unique platform for students to conceptualize and implement marketing strategies to contribute towards the society. This year, in line with the Indian Government's "Atmanirbhar Bharat" Abhiyan we are coming up with a whole event of Swadeshi Mandi in which we are promoting products made/manufactured in India making India self-sufficient and self-reliant. We at NITIE, believe in Made-in-India and put our buying power into products and services that are made locally.

I'm taking forward this initiative by highlighting the "Handloom Industry". I have portrayed 5 types of handlooms that are weaved in the central Indian region and are here for centuries. The influx of new prints, clothes and machines couldn't weaken this strong art. Still, it is very famous here and I would like to take this hidden handloom industry further and endorse the same. The Handlooms which I'm endorsing are - Beautiful Bagh, Magnificent Maheshwari, Benevolent Batik, Noble Nanda & Charismatic Chanderi.

Fruits and flowers are mined and the colours extracted from them are used in Bagh printing. The Bagh prints are inspired by nature, wildlife, and heritage. The commonly used block motifs are Genda (Marigold flower), nariyal Jaal (inspired by Taj Mahal), etc. 

We can find the existence of Maheshwari weave from the 5th century. In fact, there is mention of this exquisite art form in Kautilya's Arthashastra. Later on, it was further endorsed by Maratha queen Ahilyabai Holkar where she promoted the nauvari sarees and turban piece made by Maheshwari handloom weavers for her kingdom.

Batik is an age-old craft in which a section of fabric is covered with hot wax. After drying, the fabric is crushed to bring out the cooled wax. Lastly, it's dyed which gives the fabric a unique cracked effect.

Traditional Chanderi is often embellished with beautiful motifs of ginis (coins),butis(buds) and intricate gold zari border. This art is appreciated for centuries and has recently gained popularity. During the Royal era, it was endorsed by the queens of Indore, Gwalior among others and was their favourite.

Currently, these incredible art forms are limited only to a few audiences. On this auspicious occasion of 74th Independence day, I would like to take these arts further and present it in front of National as well as the International audience and be the "Vocal for these Local". I would like to thank prof T. Prasad for launching this MahaMandi event and giving us an opportunity to campaign for the locals. I urge all my friends to follow this event and help me take our incredible arts global.

#vocalforlocal #atmanirbharbharat # mahamandi # handloom # maheshwari #chanderi #batik # Ananda #bagh #swadeshmandi #focaltheglobal #sochobechoseekho