What has been the role of spirituality in your life in the crafts and fashion?
It is about seeing a continuity of life and nature as expressed in the crafts designs, for instance, through the recurring pattern of the tree of life, which I have seen everywhere—on ancient Egyptian paintings, or in Peru, or in so many parts of India.

Can you tell us about a unique experience that changed or shaped your spiritual beliefs?
My move to Kolkata. My entire perspective was very Delhi and Amritsar-centred. Our priorities used to be about good meals and fun. And then suddenly I was exposed to all that poverty, to the worlds of Satyajit Ray, Tagore, the Durga pujas, the rich hinterland—it all became part of me and gave me a conscience. I discovered those areas entirely dedicated to printing, or to handlooms, or to embroidery, each of them completely poverty-ridden and with no work. And my life changed entirely. There was a clear purpose after that.

What have been your main spiritual inspirations?
There was a weaving village on the border with Bangladesh. I would sit there on the banks of the Ganga, drawing my block, and I was seeing around me the same cycles of nature that had been there for thousands of years. It opened me up. There is so much security in remaining in a tight and closed community. But we cut ourselves from the natural cycles, unaware of the larger picture. That village and others inspired me in reconnecting with it all.

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