Saima Afreen By Express News Service HYDERABAD: Ever heard of the technique of using ashes to clean a fabric? Or removing chlorophyll from a peepal leaf using water which is mixed with dung? Art revivalist Ramesh Ramanadham travels to different rural areas learning nuances of several vanishing art forms and restoring the techniques. He received Dr. Marri Channa Reddy Vishisht Seva Puruskar this Sunday for his contribution. Originally from Kandukuru village of Andhra Pradesh, he’s been running RS Krafts at Banjara Hills for the past few years. Initially he was in trade of plastic granules, consumer goods and processed food items. But when he went to Mumbai the condition of craftsmen living in obscurity and common apathy toward their skills stirred something in him. He didn’t know that this penchant for craft actually ran in the family. His great grandfather Ramanadham Ramalingam (Sr) was honoured in 1924 by King George V and the Duke of Devonshire as he was invited to the United Kingdom to showcase his expertise in weaving. “We had this old photograph with one of our uncles in sepia tone, torn into four pieces. Not till we joined it that we realised that the person being felicitated by a royal was our great grandfather,” says Ramesh. He’s been conducting workshops at Lamakaan teaching youngsters and aficionados of art, crafts of peepal leaf painting, lace jewellery and more. These sessions are part of his art revival series titled ‘Leela’. Next in the series is the handicraft workshop on palm leaves to be held at Lamakaan on January 26. He shares, “We will be teaching the craft of making baskets and toys from leaves of palm trees. It takes a practitioner to complete an artefact in 15-20 minutes while for a beginner it can take a few hours. "Learning this craft keeps your mind and hands engaged diluting unnecessary stress from the nervous system that’s why several software practitioners come to us for learning this.” Other than that Ramesh has been restoring the ash process in Kalamkari as the fabric is cleaned with ashes. He has also been working on softening of nettle fibres one of the costliest natural fibres. He has several firsts in restoration such as first to produce cotton wool fabric in single ikat, first to produce katari wool fabric among others.

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