BENGALURU: Karthik Vaidyanathan had been in the corporate world for 15 years before he decided to work with Channapatna toy makers. Over the last five years, he has built a business following their design aesthetic to make utility crafts -- such as dining tables or lights -- for homes or restaurants. He continues to be Design Consultant and now works with ACT Fibrenet.
“I visited the village of Channapatna on a weekend,” he says of how it started. “I have always been passionate about crafts and decided to associate with an NGO, along with my full-time job.” He stopped by on every visit to Mysuru and kept at it, “as a small project and to keep myself engaged during the weekends”. Today his Varnam Crafts is where people go to for Channapatna work.
Initially, the Channapatna crafts were “poorly” done products. “Most of them are toys and didn’t have a bigger use,” he says. It took six months for the artistes to take him and his ideas seriously. The first design came out after that.
There has to be Discipline
“I have definitely introduced the artisans to different ways of looking at designs,” he says. He also got them to stick to a work discipline. “My artisans understand that timelines are important,” he says. “The biggest problem with artisans here (in Channapatna) is that they are not very professional and don’t realise how important it is to be on time.”
With his team, Karthik has tried to get them into weekly schedule.
The toys made in Channapatna were traditionally made from rubber wood and ivory wood. “These wood are locally cultivated in and around Mysuru,” he says. The artisans used to work on Rosewood and Sandalwood but not these days. “Earlier colour was not used on the toys but now, in the last eighty years or so, they have started applying colours,” he says. “And all are natural colours including indigo powder, haldi and kumkum powder.”
Three artisan teams work with him, with 20 to each team.
Young are Leaving
Youngster in the village show little interest in the craft. “The younger ones want to make quick money,” he says, “they start doing imitations of our designs.”
The business is not easy to run. “It is still a struggle,” he says. “Working in crafts is extremely difficult. The younger people want to put in lesser effort and want a lot more money in return, like they could at a call center. They migrate to to cities.”
Bengaluru has received his teams’ work well. “A lot of (other) designers have revived their interest in the craft,” he says. “Companies are approaching artisans for work.” He says that they constantly have to innovate their products.
Working with Others
Their best sellers are jewellery and kitchen accessories. “Corporate companies have approached us to do lights for them,” he says. “A craft can be made to look modern and contemporary. Everybody wants to support a local craft at the end of the day.” Varnam has started collaborating with other designers, therefore there is a line of men’s clothing made from block prints of their toys. “Now we’re planning to get into women’s sarees using these block prints. It is an extension of Channapatna toys,” says Karthik
Varnam is not just about selling. “School students come here and read about the crafts,” he says. “We also have a photo gallery, posters supporting the story of the craft. People realise the effort that goes into making it.”