It represents our personal development, uniqueness and individual beauty.
Just as the branches of a tree strengthen and grow upwards to the sky, we too grow stronger, striving for greater knowledge, wisdom and new experiences as we move through life…
A tree has roots that keep it grounded - a reminder that we must stay that way; and a tree grows as high as it possibly can, an eternal inspiration to forever aim higher.
It is Shelter. It is Nourishment. It is the Keeper of Life. It weathers all storms.
As we start our journey into a new year and a new decade. may we stay rooted even as we achieve higher goals, may we always celebrate our own uniqueness and strength, may we never forget our connection to the earth and our dependence on it, and may we always make sure that we nurture the Force within us that helps us grow out into the Good Light.
FROM EVERYONE AT THE BARO MARKET, HERE IS WHAT WE WISH FOR YOU :
MAY YOU FIND YOUR CENTRE
The Mahua tree is the All-Encompassing Life Force in Gond culture. From food to shelter to potent drink : it provides it all. Every creature reveres it - and it is given pride of place in all Gond art.
MAY YOU HAVE QUIETUDE
The bristles that come from the hair on a rat’s tail make for the fine strokes that show every branch on every leaf of these quiet, stately trees painted in the Orissa Pattachitra style on tussar silk. They are a reminder to stay gentle and still…
MAY YOU KNOW THE JOY IN GIVING
Presents under a tree are, more than anything, a way to feel good because you are thinking of someone else and bringing them joy - and there is much joy in that for you
MAY YOUR SPIRIT BE STRENGTHENED
In Simla, Deodars nurture and strengthen the spirit of all who fall under the shadow of their spell. WHITE HILL STUDIO pottery puts those Deodhars onto their ceramics as a Home Coming - a longing to be united with the mountains and all they inspire
MAY YOU ALWAYS HAVE FAITH
The Gul Mohur tree bursts into flower to announce the monsoon in wait. A respite from heat, a relief from drought, its bright colors symbolize life and the vibrancy it promises. Akin to bright vermillon and its sacred purpose, gulmohar has a reason of its own to live and thrive. Seen here on beautiful embroidered cushions from KRIYA
MAY YOU BE INVENTIVE
Shola is the pith inside weeds that grow in mangrove areas of Bengal, Orissa and Assam. It is a very light substance that looks and behaves like thermacol. Master craftsmen are able to take this completely natural substance and, with sharp knives and just their hands, sculpt the utmost gossamer beauty - like this tree designed by Nandita Palchoudhuri and sculpted by Ashish Malakar, sandwiched between sheets of glass.
MAY YOU STAY CONNECTED TO THE EARTH
Trees remind us always that we need to stay grounded and rooted to survive, and the mud sculpture from Molela still uses age old ways that stay relevant and successful even as they create new forms : mud from the river bank, gum from trees, donkey dung to bind
MAY BEAUTY ALWAYS SURROUND YOU
The Lotus Tree that’s printed on fabric can transform the way you feel and the way you live just by the beauty that inspires you and lifts your spirits. There are many ways to find a solution, but none is more effective than one just so beautiful that it moves you to feel and be better than before.
MAY NOTHING DESTROY YOU
This Gadwakam tree is a rare sculpture of this size made by the lost-wax process, one so difficult that tall pieces like this (5ft) are hard to do. When the Taj Mahal hotel in Bombay burnt under terrorist siege in 2008, a similar tree by the same artist, Jaidev Baghar, was the only thing that remained standing in the destroyed lobby, and is now venerated in a glass case : a testimony to both the craft and the Life Force of the tree...
“Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth.”
-Herman Hesse