A model in a creation by Anju Modi

For designer Anju Modi, every time she visits Chennai, it feels like homecoming. When she started her eponymous label in 1990, Madras was her “epicentre” for all things fabric-related. “This was my base when I used to go to nearby villages, towns and cities like Salem, Coimbatore, Kanchipuram, and Venkatagiri (Andhra Pradesh), and stay with weavers in their homes. Their culture, temples, and even things like the kolam that they draw every morning, reflect in the fabric they weave. And these have stayed with me,” says Modi, whose new collection Virasat is an ode to Chennai. Virasat, which translates to legacy, was launched, over the weekend, in collaboration with city-based legacy jewellery brand Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers, at an event at the Leela Palace Chennai.

“VBJ is a 125-year-old brand. For this collaboration, they were looking for a designer who understands the heritage of the South, especially Tamil Nadu. And I have been working with clusters of weavers in the region, so the whole thing vibed well with our ethos,” she says.

While Vummidi showcases the jewellery at their stores, Modi’s garments are on display at Evoluzione. “I have been coming to Evoluzione for 30 years. I am also very much in love with the people of Chennai. They are value- oriented and evolved. They don’t get influenced by the glam factor, they are classic in their choice,” she says.

The collection features saris, lehengas, anarkalis, jackets and lehenga saris (a fusion of the two) in Kanjeevaram silk, georgette, tussar, mashroo silk, Kota tissue, Chanderi, crinkle tissue, brocade, and velvet. Craftsmanship shines through in the form of zardozi embroidery, and traditional adda work. Vummidi does temple jewellery, and keeping that in mind, the designer has used intricate embroidery that draw inspiration from temples. Tones of emerald and gold have been used in the garments to match the temple jewellery pieces. There is bridal wear in red and gold, and rose colour drapes to go with rose cut diamonds. “They also designed the jewellery line with my colour scheme. So it was collaboration in the real sense and we took over two months to complete it,” says the doyenne of couture.

Anju Modi

Thirty five years in the industry and Modi is still passionate about her craft, and working with weavers. From Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh to Uttar Pradesh, she has been working with 25 clusters and in many cases with three generations. There is an endearing tone in her voice when she talks about the weaving communities. “You see, initially the weavers were disillusioned. People had forgotten about woven treasures and were going for mill-made fabric and clothes. I helped revive this handwoven legacy. Now consumers have started understanding the beauty of it,” she says.

After a prolonged episode of weavers’ children leaving their family business and moving to other cities in search of jobs, Modi says she is finally seeing a reversal happening. There is a certain pride about being self-employed and taking up a family business and this is what many of them have realised. “Now, the children of weavers are going to NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology) and learning fresh trends and getting equipped with the latest technology. Design inputs are coming from the younger generation. They work on computers, have email IDs, can work out the warp and weft on computers and implement them on looms. From Delhi I can email weavers in Bhuj and other cities and villages,” she smiles.

Even though these technological advancements were unthinkable in the 90s, Modi reminisces travelling back and forth on buses, trains, and cars to meet and work with weavers. “But that was another level of experience; I enjoyed it,” she says, adding, “That way, you could see a country at the ground level, people’s living habits, the rains, the heat…, and one needs to absorb it all to be part of that culture.”

Robin Uthappa (left) and Jarrod Kimber

It’s that time of the year again, when the Indian Premier League (IPL) dominates sports pages in India across a couple of months. When it comes to sports broadcasting — and increasingly, podcasting — fans are divided into two groups. One group, old-school, likes former players sharing anecdotes from their playing days, stories about contemporary cricketers and how they were ‘discovered’, et cetera. A newer generation of fans prefers a more scientific approach, listening to analysts, people who crunch the numbers and come up with the most crucial factors and phases that defined the gameplay that day.

The all-new KimAppa podcast seeks to combine these two aspects and so far, has delivered the best of both worlds. The podcast features writer and cricket analyst Jarrod Kimber alongside former Team India batter Robin Uthappa, who was part of MS Dhoni’s T20 World Cup-winning team from 2007, and represented India in one-day international cricket as well (the name of the podcast is, of course, a portmanteau of their names). KimAppa is hosted on Kimber’s ‘Good Areas’ YouTube page as well as on Uthappa’s own channel. There have been four episodes of about 70-80 minutes apiece so far, and new episodes are recorded live on the weekend, covering the entire week’s IPL action.

Breaking down the power game

From the first episode itself, it was obvious that Kimber and Uthappa enjoy an easygoing rapport. They’re both deep thinkers of the game, they’ve both worked with IPL teams and other franchises around the world. And they’re good sports, generally speaking.

In the second episode, Kimber introduced himself by saying, “I’m Jarrod Kimber, a writer and podcaster and other things that no one cares about, and with me is Robin Uthappa, former Team India opener who in the 2007 ODI World Cup scored 3 against the mighty Bermuda team”. To his credit, Uthappa laughed at the reference, arguably the most-photographed moment of his career, because his dismissal against Bermuda involved a spectacular one-handed catch by Dwayne “Sluggo” Leverock, a potbellied Bermuda policeman who somehow glided a fair way to his right like a gazelle for this one play.

Jarrod Kimber (left) with freelance writer Sam Collins
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

So much of T20 cricket these days revolves around the power game practised by the batters, and Uthappa does a great job of breaking down hitting technique. During the second episode, Uthappa talks about his own game against spinners, and the importance of reading length correctly — and early. This is high-quality analysis that draws from other sports such as baseball as well, in its biomechanical antecedents. The inevitable sense of machismo associated with prolific six-hitters like M.S. Dhoni and Andre Russell is also alluded to in a tongue-in-cheek way, when Kimber asks Uthappa, “How does it make you feel as a man when you see M.S. Dhoni coming in to bat as low as number 9?”

Mental health and finishing schools

If like me you enjoy looking at the bigger picture when it comes to sports and geopolitics, KimAppa has you covered. There’s an excellent analysis of the recently-revealed Saudi Arabia’s plans to make major investments in cricket. We learned last month that the kingdom is planning a multi-billion-dollar franchise tournament, that negotiations around the same have been underway for a while now. What would this Saudi league look like, and what would that mean for the cricketing landscape in general? Does such a massive and time-consuming league signal the beginning of the end for international cricket’s primacy on the calendar? The podcast offers insightful answers to questions like these.

Robin Uthappa takes a bow after hitting the stumps in a bowl off
| Photo Credit:
Getty Images

For me, however, the most impressive segment so far was the one where Kimber and Uthappa talk about the mental health of pro cricketers, especially those thrust into the limelight during their teenage years. Uthappa won the World Cup while still 20, and as he puts it himself on the podcast, he was “lost” for a good four to five years. At one point, he whips out an old photograph and shows it to Kimber — an unrecognisable Uthappa is at least 30-40 pounds heavier than usual, with haunted eyes trying his best to fake a smile. Uthappa also speaks poignantly about rebounding from a suicide attempt. I think the episode should be required listening/watching for very young cricketers.

In a similar vein Kimber and Uthappa also talk about the latter’s ideas for a “finishing school” for young cricketers. “Table manners, how to talk to the press, how to handle investments, how to read contracts, what skills they are developing outside of cricket,” said Uthappa, “all of this stuff should be taught to youngsters so that when they eventually stop playing professionally, they have something to move towards, something that will set them up for life after the game.”

For diehard cricket fans, I cannot recommend KimAppa highly enough. And even if you are more of a casual fan and don’t follow the game particularly closely, I think you’ll find plenty to interest you in this podcast.

The writer and journalist is working on his first book of non-fiction.