Designs on Earth

“This is among the earliest forms of jewelry known to humans as they were extremely popular in the Harappan civilizations,” says Hema,adding that the trend was actually started in Mohenjo Daro. “Terracotta is actually the Italian word for ‘fired’ or ‘cooked’ earth and is the oldest form of jewelry in the world.”

According to Hema,terracotta was used for making earthen ornaments like necklaces,bracelets,pendants,chokers and clay bangles and the designs were mostly inspired from nature and depicted animals,leaves,flowers among other elaborate patterns. “However with age,metal jewelry took over and terracotta was left behind because of its brittleness,” she says.

But Hema is all set to revive the jewelry form and already retailing her designs that range from simple clay bangles to entire jewelry sets through her outlet,Alankriti. While she started designing terracotta jewelry in 2003 in Bangalore,she shifted base to Mumbai last year and is already an active supplier of ethnic jewelry too leading boutiques in Mumbai. However,her creations don’t really burn a hole in your pockets as they’re priced between Rs 75 for a ring or an earring to about Rs 500 for an entire set.

And to take the next big leap,the woman entrepreneur has been the only woman from Mumbai chosen among over 250 from across the country (for a batch of 30) to pursue the woman’s entrepreneurship course at the Indian School of Business (ISB),Hyderabad,that has been sponsored by Goldman Sachs. “We’ve been assigned mentors who advise us to achieve our business goals and that is really helpful,” she says.

As far as her plans for expanding her presence in the city is concerned,Hema says that while terracotta jewelry has traditionally been designed to complement ethnic wear and goes very well with traditional Indian wear,she is all set to introduce a fusion of Indian and western designs to make it more appealing to Mumbai’s cosmopolitan culture.

While she is currently working on a new theme of spiritual jewelry with the brand name of Niva,the designs of this particular brand would encompass motifs and spiritual symbols from Indian,African and European runes.

“In the next five years,my aim is to establish Alankriti as a brand name in Indian ethnic and contemporary jewelry,” she adds. With her passion for innovative designs and the backing of one of India’s best known business schools,that definitely seems a possibility.