Hello beautiful people!
I’m back with a new series under #MythicFashion and this time I’m exploring the ‘Panchmahabhutas’ or the ‘5 classic Elements of life’. This is the first chapter of this series and it starts with ‘Bhu’.
BHU stands for ‘Bhoomi’… or ‘Prithvi’ which means ‘Earth’. Incidentally, all ancient mythologies, refer to Earth as ‘mother’… be it Bhudevi (Indian), Gaia (Greek) or Mut (Egyptian), Mother Earth is the giver of life itself!
As a element, a part of the Panchmahabhutas or the 5 classic elements of life, Earth stands for creation, abundance, fertility and solidity. Earth is one of those elements, which according to Indian Mythology have two components – the perishable and the eternal!
The perishable component, is the physical form – our body for example. Our body represents the Earth … All ancient cultures believe that our body is made of soil – which is a reference to atoms that make up our body! And this body is perishable… the skin, the bones, the teeth… all die and turn to ashes…! What’s eternal, is the atoms. Once our body dies, it goes back into its atomic form and integrates with the earth.
And the Earth herself, has both these aspects too!
Just because Mother Earth is caring, giving and nurturing… just because we’ve always as a human race seen her being there, we take her for granted! (Much like our own human mothers!)
We mistake her for being eternal in her present form as we know it.
As human beings, we are conditioned to make mistakes and take things for granted… it’s our natural DNA. We take for granted our ecology, our soil, our food! One of the most common sayings ‘Money doesn’t grow on trees’ itself implies what we give importance to… ‘Money’ that’s valuable and worth hankering after, and ‘trees’, that are common, easily available and not valuable! Capitalistic mindset has always taken for granted the easily available and visible (nature, forests – things naturally available on the ground)), and hankered after things that are difficult to achieve (minerals, ores… things under the ground). And yet, in both cases, Mother Earth is the only one that’s abused.
Imagine what happens when she decides to not exist. To go back to her pure form of atoms and energy…?! Her wrath is something we’ve been seeing increase over the years, but we choose to ignore it because it’s an unpleasant thought!
Changes in climatic conditions – colder winters and harsher rains, increasing instances of cyclones and earthquakes… if this isn’t her warning voice, I don’t know what is!
I’ve said this time and again, the fashion industry is the largest polluters in the world, second only to the oil industry. If we decide to opt for eco-friendly and sustainable fashion, we can make a small difference that might go a long way.
Today, with rising awareness and with young designers innovating on eco-conscious clothing, there are plenty of gorgeous, super-fashionable options to choose from.
Ek Katha is one such brand…! All the outfits I wear here, are made from organic Kala-cotton from Kutch! The brand gets involved in the process right from sourcing of the right certified organic cotton, to weaving the yarn and using eco-friendly dyes… all handmade! In the process, these clothes don’t just end up being extremely breathable and skin-friendly, they encourage organic cotton farming and also provide livelihood to hundreds of skilled artisans and craftsmen who have slowly been losing their jobs to machines.
This collection by Ek Katha is a tribute to Bhudevi – The Mother Earth! She is the inspiration and she is the muse.
THE GIVER:
The fresh greens, sky blues and a calming colour palette, with Batik block printing done by hand is a representation of the always giving, loving and nurturing side of mother earth. The part of her that gives unconditionally… gorgeous, soft and fresh!
HER RESILIENCE:
The Beige is a symbol that she doesn’t give up on her children easily. It’s her resilience that enables her to take all the abuse, and turn it into love once again! But her warnings shouldn’t be shrugged away! Every time she loses her temper, she wears a crown of thorns and asks us to reflect… Reflect on our actions… Reflect on what needs to be done… Reflect on the reasons that made her angry!
But she still doesn’t give up…! She comes back to us like the loving cradle of life that she is, but she doesn’t forget either! It’s we who do.
RECLAIM:
And then there will come a time when she’ll want to reclaim! Everyone has a breaking point … and like I said earlier, even the Earth is not eternal!
The brown colour palette, along with the raw, unrefined nature of organic kala cotton is a representation of her wanting to reclaim… to take back all that’s green and living and turn it into dust! To disintegrate and go back to her pure form of atomic energy…!
If mother earth decides to ‘reclaim’ what’s hers… if she decides to stop giving and take it all back, nothing of human beings will be left! And Reclaim she will!
It’s time we seriously started to put in some effort, however big or small, to respect her and give back! Organic clothing and sustainable fashion, is just one of them!
Sustainability starts from the smallest of actions. If everyone decides to support sustainable fashion, large fast fashion giants too will be forced to adopt earth-friendly measures.
The loving, caring and giving mother that she is, I truly believe that it’s time we showed her that we’re a race worth living for!
Lots of Love
Sonal
PS: Photography By: Sonalee Das
Outfits: Ek Katha
Do leave your comments and share your thoughts, or write to me with any queries.