It has been rightly said by someone that “Age slows down the body, but not the mind.” The same is the case with Usha Ashwath Narayan, who is residing in JP Nagar, for the past 24 years and spent nearly 50 years in preparing gifts given during marriages which we also call as “Maduve Bhagana” in Kannada. Usha indulged herself and started experimenting in various arts. She soon became an expert in making dolls and show-pieces using coconuts, carving dried coconuts, preparing sugar dolls, haththi haara, gejje vastra and wax items. She is now one of the most sought after person in Mysore to get “Maduve Bhagana” ready!
by Phalgunn Maharishi
Born in 1950 in Nanjangud, Usha spent her early childhood in Kolkata and Madras where her father worked as a Liaison Officer for a private company. She soon shifted to Mysore in 1958 and completed her Bachelors in Music from Gangotri Fine Arts College in the city in 1973. She also completed her Rashtra Bhasha Hindi exam in 1969 and got married to Ashwath Narayan, a KEB Senior Assistant, in 1975. The couple has two children; a son and a daughter, both software engineers in Bangalore. Usha is also a MA degree holder in Hindi Language from Mysore University through correspondence.
By profession, Usha was a teacher who managed primary school students and also taught Kannada and Hindi for high school students in various schools like St. Anne’s, Vidhyashankara and St. Marina’s till 1990 after which she was forced to quit the teaching line due to her health conditions. “I was always interested in creativity from my childhood. May be the genes have passed down to me from my grandmother I guess. I always saw her (grandmother) making models of chariots and bullock carts using coconut sticks,” said Usha while speaking about her inspiration behind the art. She also added, “I also love teaching. I handled everything single-handedly be it teaching, coconut carving, marriage gifts, drawing, painting and above all my children and my husband too.”
Usha is a unique person who has so far tried a number of creative arts and gained success in each one of them. When it comes to music, she is a vibrant veena player and a tremendous vocalist. When it’s drawing and painting, she is well-versed in glass painting, fabric painting, oil painting and a lot more. She has also won hundreds of prizes for her paintings and rangoli designs. When you have a marriage in your family and you are in need of a person who can prepare all the traditional gifts and show-pieces for your relatives, Usha is the person you can bet upon.
Usha said, “I started working for marriages in my family and friends circle in the beginning when I was just 10 years. As days passed the word started spreading and today I work for marriages happening in Bangalore, Mumbai and also abroad.” She also commented, “I never knew I would come all the way working alone without any help from any person. But nowadays, as I am growing old, my children help me a little during their free time; not in the process of making, but in the process of online selling through Facebook.”
Usha has recently started making terracotta jewelleries which originated during Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro civilisation. It is the oldest form of jewelleries known to mankind, but had lost its value amidst gold and silver jewelleries. “Recently my daughter had been to South Africa where she found the vast usage of terracotta jewelleries which the Mysoreans had no clue about before. She was the one who forced me to learn the art in Bangalore at Kavaani where I obtained a certificate in terracotta jewellery-making in 2013,” said Usha about her new talent and business. She later added, “The designs of my terracotta jewelleries are not available in the stores and the usual designs found in stores are not available with me. The trend is catching up recently in the city. People are buying the down-to-earth latest fashion jewelleries. They are seeking for a tremendous change from the usual gold and silver jewelleries.”
“I first make models using clay according to the designs and then dry them after which they are baked and painted. I use hacksaw blades, nose pliers, cutters and also waste pens and broken scales and water bottle caps to prepare the designs,” explained Usha while speaking about the procedure she follows to prepare terracotta jewelleries. She also added, “It takes nearly 15 days for me to complete a necklace set.”
Usha is by far the only person in Mysore who prepares such terracotta jewelleries. She has also been an avid social worker in her young age. She has been responsible for bringing street lights and frequent buses to JP Nagar by holding strikes near some routes of JP Nagar years ago. She really is an example of a lady whose body is aging with time but not the mind.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / July 15th, 2014