Aranya Natural

An innocuous conversation with a friend in Calcutta took me to Dacca , Bangladesh to attend a

workshop on natural dyes with Ruby Ghaznavi at her famed Aranya. It was an interesting workshop

and I couldn’t wait to get back home to try out the colours. It came out well but I felt that it could be

less of a hobby and more of something useful. I happen to be a frequent visitor to Munnar in South

India tea estates and on a whim I tried out the colours in the guest house kitchen much to the

amusement of the staff present. The colours that came out blew my mind away. It was 100 times

more vibrant and it just seem to jump out of my hands. The perfect ph of the spring water, the fresh

raw material was the trick. After this there was no doubt in my mind that this is the place to start a

natural dye unit.

I had been asked to inaugurate a unit of stationary making a while ago and the sad faces of the

challenged young adults haunted me for a long time. Natural dyes was the perfect answer for them.

Instead of making boring and monotonous files and envelopes, they would be indulging in a much

more colourful activity.

Thus Aranya was born in 1994 with 6 challenged young adults. I named it Aranya after Ruby

Ghaznavi’s Aranya. After 2 workshops to familiarise everyone with the process, Aranya was officially

launched.

With no background what so ever in textiles, it was a daring venture but the Tata management

supported us. We started with mud pots and bamboo stick stirrers and soon progressed to proper

vessels and infrastructure.

Initially we did plain dyeing but I realised that if we need to grow we have to go further. I got a book

on shibori and the youngsters started learning from it. Because of the vibrancy of the colours so

many imperfections were over looked. It was at this juncture that we had the good fortune of

running into Yoshiko Wada at a Sutra conference. We realised that we were following her book on

Shibori and invited her to visit us and conduct a workshop. A year later Yoshiko came to Aranya and

we haven’t looked back since. She mentored us and guided us over the years to reach where we are

today. Never in my wildest dreams did I envision the growth of Aranya to this extent. The associates

who worked very hard, brightened their own lives as well, living with colours. Today we see happy,

well adjusted youngsters who live with dignity and self respect. From the original 6 we now have 34

associates, as we call them, working at Aranya Natural.

Aranya became Aranya Natural to avoid being mixed up with Dacca’s Aranya. The innumerable

workshops attended plus conferences and seminars enlightened us and held our hands during the

process of growth.

Looking back over the 27 years, it was not a planned growth with a grand vision. We grew

spontaneously imbibing ideas whenever and who ever taught us. We have had excellent teachers

who came half way across the world to share their knowledge besides Yoshiko Wada. Jennifer

Balfour Paul,Ana Lisa Hedstrom, Axel Becker, Linda LaBelle and many others taught us generously. It

is thanks to them that we now have an international clientele Thay gave us the wherewithal and the

courage to plough ahead with confidence.

Today we have a state of the art factory producing superlative work sent all over the world and

everyone who visit us leaves with a comment. “what a happy place!” We celebrated our 25 years

just before the pandemic started with an international conference on the “ Sustainability of Natural

Dyes. It was well attended and enlightening. Besides the many talks and workshops, the associates

entertained us with dance performance plus a fashion show. Sashaying down the runaway with such

confidence in the clothes made with their own handiwork had everyone stand up and give them a

standing ovation!

We have always kept an open house at Aranya Natural so that visitors can walk around and watch

them at work at any given time. We have deliberately stuck to working with 100% natural dyes and

never ventured into synthetic dyes. It has paid off in the long run.

Today we sell over ₹ 1000000 worth of goods a year around the world. It Is a large sum for a unit

that started on a dream of sustainability. We are blessed with excellent coordinators who has

worked tirelessly to see to the smooth running of the unit.

The biggest reward has been the happy and cheerful faces of all the associates. Working with colours

has brought them out of their depression to lead extra ordinary lives they could not have aspired for

earlier. Their creativity has been a beautiful surprise and rewarding. Come visit us and partner us in

this journey.