INDEBO (www.indebo.com), a Destination Management Company specialising on theme-based travel for over 30 years, is now proud to present a start version of Speaking With Hands (www.speakingwithhands.com) a repository of the journeys taken over the last 30 years to explore the various arts and crafts in India. Currently in the form of a website, Speaking With Hands comprises of stories and lessons experienced by guests of INDEBO in various journeys lead by the founder of the company, Mrs. Malathi Ramaswamy. The website is currently in its beta version and a few embelishments are still to be added.
As a travel specialist, INDEBO has been associated with tailormade and theme-based travel. Themes around travel were designed keeping in mind the traveller's hobbies or interests. They have also been designed so that travellers may be more involved with the people of India rather than merely gaze at monuments. Over the years, these themes have spanned religion, the Ganges, indigenous people, sustainable development – and the arts. Being a personal favourite of Mrs. Ramaswamy, she has lead more than 60 such journeys with guests who took more than just a passing interest in these arts. As a result, her guests have travelled with her on multiple journeys with the zeal to discover the arts in the different parts of India.
Speaking With Hands talks about these journeys. 60+ journeys would lead to numerous stories and experiences. These experiences are shared on the current website. The anecdotes are written by the guests themselves with minimal editing done to preserve the authenticity of the experience. As a result, while some articles may be academic in nature others may relate some humorous incident that occurred on the journey. Moreover, having travelled to different parts, each article conveys a different mood that depends on the art being explored.
The geographical regions covered in the various journeys (and thus in this repository) include Gujarat, Bengal, Orissa and Southern India among others. The topics covered range from turbans to terracotta and through the stories you can also learn of the various processes. For the layman, it acts as a good and interesting guide to some of the art forms in India. For the more seasoned reader, details of craft persons are also included.
As of now, the main focus is on the completion of the website and the cataloging of the various articles. Once complete, work on a coffee-table book based on the same theme and articles would commence. The book would be a ready reference and an interesting read into the diverse world of arts and textiles in India.
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