Reimagining Indian designs through illustrations

The illustrated book, Pukka Indian , brings together a hundred objects that are the most coveted symbols that represent Indian culture and design. The book talks about diversity, versatility, vibrancy, and colours of design icons ranging from kulhad to the Kolhapuri chappal, Nano to the Nehru jacket, and auto rickshaw meter to the Ambassador car, that set them apart in a country as multifarious as India. “Objects like Kalnirnay calendar, bahi-khata for bookkeeping, Mandira, a tool used to churn milk into butter, reflect unique Indian habits that I became acutely aware of while studying architecture design at the School of Art and Design at Tsukuba, Japan. I realised that our contemporary culture has a close relationship with objects that were designed 5,000-7,000 years ago. The design thus became the chain linking the last two decades of my life — the chain that propelled me to architecture school and that brought me to Paris to design with the most elusive of all materials — smell,” Jahnvi starts the conversation. 

She says that design in India is not entirely determined by the aesthetic appeal of the object, but by the significance of the object in everyday life, and is often influenced by its users. In some instances, the age-old practices established by ancient Indian wisdom determine the design of an object, such as the datun (neem tree twig) recommended for oral care or agarbatti (incense) used to heal and protect. On the other hand, the lota (a kind of metal pot) has been a part of everyday Indian life for centuries and its design remains unchanged even today, says the author. 

The Paris-based perfumer was inspired by the Dymaxion of Buckminster Fuller, BV Doshi and his vision of modern India, tools used in the Indian kitchen and the presence of spirituality and symbolism in Indian design. “I think creativity is at the core of Indian culture. The design is concerned with finding solutions and in a country plagued with so many problems, there is automatically an enormous space for design solutions,” she explains. 

For her, the design is as Buckminster Fuller once said, ‘the deliberate ordering of rather disparate components’. Her second major project — The Perfume Library (in New Delhi and Paris) is a curated collection of rare and exclusive perfumes. “I am aware of Indian perfumery compositions but I have a Japanese aesthetic too and my fragrances incorporate French styles as well. I think we are a sum of our experiences and I am therefore a happy blend of these experiences,” Jahnvi concludes.