Entrepreneur-aesthete Vina Mody leaves behind a legacy for Indian craftsmen

The name Vina is actually pronounced as Vaina to rhyme with Diana this reporter learnt on a condolence call to Vina Modyrsquos niece Feroza Mody Vina passed away peacefully on Monday night at Ferozarsquos Carmichael Road residence At 96 Vina architect and entrepreneurfounder of one of Mumbairsquos first lifestyle stores Contemporary Arts amp Crafts CAC leaves behind a legacy marked by love for Indian craftsThe storeIt is a path Feroza who is now solely in charge of CAC is determined to continue ldquoThe most visible window for her lifersquos philosophy is the CAC storerdquo said her niece who added that the brick lsquonrsquo mortar store had its birth at Fort then moved to Nepean Sea Road and then Fort before shuttering and moving to the virtual world ldquoWe are online now like so many businesses in the outbreak said Feroza adding ldquomaybe that is the way to go in the future toordquoThe online outpost too continues to showcase Vinarsquos passion for Indian crafts and craftsmen She practised lsquodesi chicrsquo long before it became trendy on the cityrsquos social circuit and caring for the Indian karigar became an uber cool leitmotif in the lsquokeeping home grown crafts aliversquo story mouthed between chips lsquonrsquo dips at partiesA visionaryldquoIn that way certainly she was a woman ahead of her timerdquo said Feroza about her trailblazing aunt whose actual name was Lavina but was more commonly known as Vina A trained architect Vina was the American wife of late Parliamentarian and Mumbai architect Piloo Mody Piloo one of the founding members of the Swantantra party was a passionate advocate of liberalismWriter Meher Marfatia described Vina as ldquoinspiringrdquo Marfatia added ldquoIt is just so remarkable how she made this country her home with a closer understanding of its heritage and not to forget its politics too than so many born Indians It was thanks to her that so many unsung karigars from every state got due recognitionrdquoMarketing mantraToday Prime Minister Narendra Modi spouting the rousing pandemic punchline of lsquoMake in Indiarsquo and using the traditional lsquogamcharsquo as a mask catapulting it into stylersquos big league is incredible marketing When Vina scoured the country and sourced products in the 1960s from Indian craftsmen such hard sell spiel was absent in any corner leave alonefrom a slick PM though some politicians only through their dressing did inadvertently promote Indian craft The Nehru jacket is one enduring exampleldquoYet with her dedication and an unerring eye for what sold along with the stylish she was successfulrdquo said Feroza Once more indicative of her prescient mind lsquofarm to tablersquo has become a culinary catchphrase now while 50 years earlier ldquoVina had already made it from lsquocraft to tablersquo when it came to products like tableware and home deacutecorrdquo said FerozaVinarsquos niece stated how her auntrsquos penchant for the stylish spilled over in the personal space ldquoAt my home too she would give me ideas about where to place certain stuff why a piece is better suited to a different corner from the one I placed it and she was right Right till the end she liked to be very busy She would tell us give me something to do and was always creating sewing sticking something togetherrdquoLeaving behindOne of the ways though that the world has moved ahead is that it is now much more open and global ldquoProducts with a with a typical Indian design or aesthetic may not have been made in India they could have been made in Thailand or Sri Lanka for example The emphasis on this being made or getting it only from an Indian karigar is a limitation in these times Yet it was Vinarsquos love for the craftsmen and women of the country that she always put people over profits I remember if a karigar was asked why a product was unfinished after a deadline had elapsed and he would say he was handicapped as there no electricity in his village she would not hold the karigar to itrdquo recalled Feroza That mix of compassion and the commercial is a cocktail you do not find easily at the business bar todayldquoVina has forged the way and I am going to try my hardest to live up to those idealsrdquo finished her niece With desi chic now in high demand in Indiarsquos hinterland where rural folk create for the urban market the spirit of Vina Mody lives on like the pleasing scent of earth after rain