BAZAAR

How do you identify the artisans?I met Ram Keli, with whom we worked for Godna,at the Surajkund mela in New Delhi, where she wasselling paintings of tattoo motifs. Through her,we found Sunita and Sumitra from a remotevillage in Chhattisgarh. I met the Chittara artistRadha Sullur through an NGO. We workwith women only, because if the moneygoes to the women, it usually goestowards the family, children, and overallwell-being of the community. Themodel is such that they are paidupfront—additional revenues coverour expenses and what’s remaininggoes back to the communities.What are the challenges ofrunning the project?The initial one is to identify a craftto engage with, because noteverything translates intotypography. We need to explain theproject to the artisans, the benefitsto them. The workshops, too, can beoverwhelming since we need to takequick calls and often change course.Unfortunately, in villages there’s a lotof male domination, and when we weredeveloping Pakko [based on a Gujaratiembroidery technique, and soon to belaunched], the men wanted the women backin the house. So we couldn’t do a workshop,and had to improvise. Digitising the letters is alsoa big challenge—they are very complex—so wecollaborated with Andrew Balius, a type designer andpartner, to transform them into workable typefaces.http://www.typecraftinitiative.org``````What’s on your bedside table? The absolute necessitiesof life: My book, the book I read to my daughter before shesleeps, eye gel, hand cream, and some more books. AndI am excited to announce that my bedside table has a newaddition—reading glasses! Your most prized possessions?My daughter. And my three novels. Tell us three thingsabout your new book, Prime Time Crime. Stories ofMumbai gang lore are popular in cinema, but Prime TimeCrime is noir from a woman’s point of view. And that has notbeen explored in this genre. It moves at breakneck speed.It is backed by research that is seamlessly interwoven withthe story, so you will know a bit more than you did before.Who would play the protagonists—intern reporterRitika and gangster AT—in a film adaptation? Alia Bhattand Sidharth Malhotra. Which is the last great book youread? Lone Fox Dancing, the autobiography of Ruskin Bond.What do you look for in a novel? Engagement. I need toget sucked into the world created by the author. Genre doesnot matter, craft does. What is the the most interestingthing you discovered through a book? Each of the booksI read recently covers the gruesome aftermath of Partition—Lone Fox Dancing, Indira by Sagarika Ghose, and The Rebel:A Biography of Ram Jethmalani by Susan Adelman. That’swhen I realised there is only one divide segregating thehuman race. You are either rich or poor. The rest does notmatter. In political upheavals, not your religion but youreconomic status decides your outcome. The rich will surviveand the poor will suffer. Unfair but true. A classic youhaven’t read? A Room Of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf.The last book that made you laugh out loud? I’m goingto get brazen and say He Loves Me Not, written by yours truly.What do you do when you have a writer’s block? I talkabout what is blocking my writing over a stif peg of Macallanwith my husband. The following day, during solitary pursuitslike cooking or swimming, I get my answers. The Macallan,I tell you, is my golden key! ■``````RAPID FIRE``````Author Vrushali Telang on her newnovel, the one quality of a good read,and the only cure for writer’s block``````BOOKABHIJIT GOHAIN