I come from a pretty creative familie. We like to make things, nurture ideas and implement them.
My school books were full of doodles and studying art was a given. Dance and music were encouraged too. So I started Bharatnatyam in the 1 standard, but did not pursue it further due to differences with the teacher. Flute in the school band and guitar later, luckily my son is better at the guitar and songwriting.
After high school, I joined a diploma course in Applied Art, left that incomplete to follow studies in The Netherlands.
Here I apprenticed at the Gallerie Sothmann, where I learnt to be a pretty good commercial restorer of paper prints. Some exotic prints and books have passed through my fingers.
Finally I joined the Rijksuniversiteit van Leiden to pursue my bachelor’s in Archaeology and History of Art, followed by a master’s degree in History of Art.
I have collected books on art just as passionately as I have held photo, painting, music and film shows. Old hand coloured maps were collected via auctions or earned while working at Gallerie Sothmann.
Gujarat has a lot of joint heritage with the Dutch and from 1997, I became involved with the remains. Ensuring they were saved from destruction, supporting restoration projects and doing publicity when and where possible together with state and local governments.
Jazzabad came about by chance and thus I met many world musicians from India and abroad by word of mouth.
YPO WPO Regional meet, Roaring Gujarat came with its complicated and finely detailed program. As program director, it was a feat to get everything right. Managing high income individuals and their families requires quite some creativity and presence of mind and a whole lot of patience.
My involvement with design schools also happened organically and has been an enriching experience too.
A visit to Pakistan on an invitation from musician Mekaal Hasan, opened my eyes to the art, crafts and design education and practitioners there. The beautiful monuments old and new, a look at the joint heritage of the sub continent that is South Asia.
Craft+Design+Society was set up with my inputs end 2015, later it was registered as CDS Art Foundation, I remained active with them till just after the show of 2018. I believe strongly in the ideology with which I participated in this activity to support master crafts-persons in bettering their skill & craft and at the same time producing contemporary products which are relevant and have a global appeal today.
It is important to encourage the youth to participate and manage cultural events. So I support SpicMacay, college cultural fests and such.
