AN A F T E RNOON IN AHM E DABAD : IN CONV E R S ATION W ITH E MBROID E RY MA S T E R A S I F S HAIKH – TAASA Review March 2010
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This article was originally found in the March 2010 edition of TAASA Review (Volume 19, Issue 1, Page 7).
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Carole Douglas M aster embroiderer and designer Asif Shaikh sits in contemplative mood in his newly renovated studio perched high over the Indian city of Ahmedabad.
The late afternoon sun streams through his windows and illuminates an array of elegantly designed and exquisitely embroidered items: a colour-coordinated range of clothing hangs artfully on a slim rack; several glass shelves hold carefully folded sarees and stoles, while others offer a selection of the finest Indian hand-woven fabrics.
The sense of calm reflects the man himself and belies the chaos of the streets below, where ancient mosques, shrines and temples, crowded chowks, roadside stalls, shanty towns, grand old havelis, tiny offices and godowns' rub shoulders with contemporary housing developments, cavernous shopping malls, glass office blocks and high-tech industries...