A never-ending green canopy, thanks to a tree-lined ground, is, quite literally, cooler than a freshly mown grassy garden left nude to a scorching sun. A mud lantern is prettier than a flashy neon light. A red clay cottage feels more relaxing than a marble-make palace.
A plain cotton kurta has as much a brand status, if not more, as does a pair of western “Curve ID” jeans pants. A pair of jhumkas is a girl's best friend; diamond studs just missed out!
Handspun is exquisite. Handcrafted is artisanal. Handwoven is authentic. Natural is the new aristocracy. Earthy is the new luxury. Desi is the uber lifestyle. Why? A concrete jungle can only hold a human's senses for so long... The nature has her own way of reaching to us. One way or another. And we desperately try to hold onto her. After all, nature is the ultimate mother of all, and who are we to say no to her!
Once upon a time, the royalty indulged themselves in “exotic” pleasures. The silks they wore were the purest and rarest among all realms. The flowers that adorned their palaces and hair were the sweetest and prettiest across all lands. The blades and swords they swung were forged by the finest and craftiest of masons within the cities. Their pleasures came from a distant land as a rarity, as an exclusive, as a speciality.
Fast forward to our modern desi land, where each one is a self-indulged king or queen who revels in desi branded clothing, accessories, home decor, cosmetics, and even food. What is queer is not their self-indulgence itself, but their sense of self-indulgence, their choice of self-indulgence... This creed of royalty reaches for all the “earthy” items produced in their very own land, to join in the “desi elite” class. This class soaks in earthiness with as much fervour as the earth would soak in the heaven’s downpour.
Observes Parvati Prasad, a naturalist, “Trends are very cyclic. What is a classy lifestyle now may be not happening a decade later, and make a return the decade after that! However, these desi earthy items that we are all indulged in our current lifestyle... I believe that they’ve always been items of fascination for Indians and westerners alike, simply because they are so natural and the handmade aspect is a testament to exquisite human skills. So we do have a thing for earthy decor, apparels, and the likes... It’s just that more people are realising this and opting for these items.”
Earthy items are indeed a matter of “art” and art always comes with a huge price. It is art, after all. A decade ago, this “desi elite” class was a rare creed with only the most rich to boast of belonging to it, of being able to afford the Indian cultural heritage in every little thing that they possessed. From face wipes that came in a huge silver elephant's belly to a sombre hued saree or men's kurta that was “vegetable dyed”.
From meenakari jewellery set to pure kundan embellished silver trays. From hand-spun silks to bamboo furniture. Anything natural, or elemental, or fresh off the earth was, amusingly enough, only the rich Indian's lifestyle.
Notes Javed Mulani, an artist, “If we observe carefully, we will notice that all the desi earthen artefacts and attires are still items of luxury. Only difference is... Irrespective of whether we are from upper class or middle class, we are all reaching out for them alike. Given the kind of fast-paced and urban concrete lives we lead these days, we want to hold on to our roots and nature in any and every way possible."
“Terracotta and bamboo decor, desi jewellery, and antique Indian artefacts are all a way of holding onto our Indian soil that we had forgotten for a while. We have woken up to that,” he points out with an artistic aura about it, given the desi artist that he is.
It is almost as if nature has become a luxury! What was once a common way of life has now become a fancy treat. A weekend holiday in a tribal themed hut-like cottage overlooking a river, right within our own state, is a luxury, and quite literally when you consider the whopping tariff on it! Yet, whether or not it burns a hole in our pockets, we still reach out for it. Gosh, we really are determined to experience this earthy exoticism, aren’t we?
Earlier perhaps, we would feel awed by a palatial home with a huge well-pruned grassy garden. Now however, even riding a two-wheeler on a road lined with lush trees forming a canopy overhead feels more than heavenly...
Did you know that during the initial years, the Taj Mahal at Agra had nothing short of a forest for its courtyard? But under the British influence, the trim grassy garden we see today replaced it at the swing of an axe! Had we not been carried away, those trees would have probably guarded the monument from Delhi’s air pollution much better today.
If there is one thing that western influence really changed for the positive in the recent years, it is how we value our desi culture. To the western world, it has always been an exotic experience, and the way we have turned western in our minds, we too have begun to view it as something special. Whether we view it that way out of desi pride or the “firang fascination” quotient is irrelevant when you consider the fact that our desi touch is still alive!
“It’s a good thing that western influence has made this one positive impact on us. We have begun to love our own desi lifestyle with regard to our clothing, and decor especially,” opines Abhijith Keshava Murthy, a techie. He says, “It is good that we are viewing our own local products as exotic, because it is certainly helping keep our desi culture alive. And to cap it, it is helping us connect with our roots again. So, yes.
Earthen exoticism or desi exoticism is in and I hope it stays that way for long.”
Yes... We were indeed so caught-up in our over-done web of urbanisation, westernisation, and globalisation (add any other related heavy “isation” that you can think of) that somewhere, we lost our connection with our desi selves...
We began flaunting “modern” architecture and decor that boasted of German kitchen, Italian floors, and Victorian walls and roofs. Enough to speak of an identity crisis, if not a multiple personality disorder of sorts! What with the introduction of several western luxury brands, ethnic living became a festive visitor, coming out of the closet only during festivals or occasions like weddings and other ceremonies. The puja thalis, rangolis, the terracotta decor, mehendi, and the salwar kameez, sarees, dhotis and kurtas all became only a festive ritual.
But somewhere down the line, we started bringing them all back to life in our everyday living. Suddenly, it wasn't just foreigners or the Indian elite who found a high lifestyle quotient in such a desi culture. Handspun cotton dhotis, pyjamas, and sarees, handcrafted pottery, handwoven bamboo furniture, organic vegetables and fruits, all made their way into our lives again. Start-ups mined out this target market and helped it shine all the way through. We bought them, not standing the heavy price tags they came with. Instead we rejoiced in the sheer beauty of it all, even the packaging!
We realised it is more natural, more healthy, more “us” to be desi. We realised when we do love our desi ethnic lifestyle, why not flaunt it our desi way - with quite some drama to it...
It is our desiness...
It is our earthiness...
It is our heritage...
It is our art...
It is our drama...
It is our ethnic exotica...