Craft: Gond painting, Madhya Pradesh
The one thing that always strikes you about most uber successful people is their humility. Kalabai Shyam, a National Award is a few notches higher. Born in Patangarh village, Dindori district, and married to a fellow National Award, her stoic face never gives away her stature. A wonderful cook, she always ensures you are well-fed. She could rustle up feasts in a make-shift kitchen set up for one of our projects that required her to stay with us for 6 weeks. Her spicy chicken curry, that turned our ceramic designer David from Scotland turn a deep red is the stuff of office legend.
Her craft is similar to her cooking, simple yet stunning. With no constraint of either colour or form, her paintings are bright and raw. Even her signature patterns evoke simplicity, with one of them being the shape of woven mat.
