My immigrant experience has been to shed the preconceived social norms of the east and embrace the freeform creativity of the west. These past 12 years of being in the US have coincided with the age of high speed connectivity, making the world a global village. Technology consumed me, not just as an extension of communication, but as an extension of my body. Embedding it in everyday actions, creating a contiguous space between Brooklyn and Bangalore and grasping its socio-evironmental impact was the initial inspiration for Odhni, a handmade garment that gathers solar energy as women walk miles to gather water.
Odhni is a piece of clothing worn by women in rural India. The garment largely serves as a veil, a “direct extension of the outer surface of the body” as well as a shield from the sun when making long pilgrimages to fetch water. This piece of cloth holds many cultural significances as it marks respect and honor of women by covering their head and eyes, a long standing tradition from Mughal India. The Odhni forces the wearer to adopt a notion of anonymity and invisibility forcing a conversation between the exterior and interior, and public and private.
Taking this very structurally simple but socially complex garment and layering it with the ability to harness solar power, the Odhni can empower its wearer. Women form the economy of a household in India. Though not socially powerful, women are very much the nourishers and providers in a family. Gathering energy when they go out to collect water is a natural progression to the running of their households. I am very interested in these private experiences that take place on the larger public stage.
