Thursday, April 10, 2014

Shringar

Shringar: (v); adorn, decorate, enrich, grace, ornament


Beautifully expressed in the eternal song
ThaaDe rahiiyo, o baa.nke yaar  from the film Pakeezah; Lata Mangeshkar, on Meena Kumari, sings:

mai.n to kar aauu.n solaah si.ngaar / (I will come, adorned with the sixteen embellishments)
ThaaDe rahiiyo, o baa.nke yaar / (Keep waiting, oh beautiful lover) 


              



               Shringar is a natural desire of a woman to enhance her appeal and attractiveness through the process of getting ready using clothing, makeup, jewelry, and accessories; adding a spark to her beauty. Shringar in an Indian woman alludes to the ritual of dressing up in which she embellishes her beauty from head to toe in adornments symbolizing femininity, fertility, and prosperity.

               Shringar in a traditional Indian woman is a reflection of her rich Indian culture, tradition, and heritage. A traditional Indian woman dresses up using components and accessories of beauty and attire that symbolize her faith, belief, culture, and value; and with her attire and accessories she symbolically carries with her well-wishes and blessings.

               Shringar for me is not about style and fashion, but about those things that add beauty and vibrancy to life.

               In this project I have tried to do just that, add a bit of spark to highlight the beauty in this piece of cabinetry. The merger of design and tradition in this piece was brought forth through simple ethnic Indian design, worked with a very fine tuned hand painted design. Just as an Indian woman with every step of shringar, adds to herself another aspect bringing out her inner beauty and charm; so did this piece with every brush stroke reveal its stunning beauty and wonder.

               In choosing my colors for the hand painting I drew from shringar of an Indian woman; the white color signifies purity, the red color is considered a sign of auspiciousness, joy, and happiness and the gold lends a touch of opulence and prosperity. The maharajah elephants add a sense of majesty to this piece. The richness of the final piece reflects all components of choices and decisions coming together.

               At the end of it all…no shringar compares to the beauty of a woman’s smile, reminding me that a woman’s beauty comes from more places than her outer appearance. The soft beauty, grace, elegance, and representation of cultural art in this piece serve to enhance its beauty in the admirer’s eyes. In working on this piece, along the journey, touching its depths with respect and admiration and appreciation for its beauty, I was rewarded with joy. Joy and pride and happiness.


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