I have named this shawl Himal Tokri because it holds, like a basket, my training over the last decade in the indigenous world of natural dyes. It holds the testimony that with every weave that the people in the mountains and the hills tutored me into, my heart was gradually filling up. It is the basket of innumerable episodes that compelled me to open my mind to learning, to take one step further into looking a weave closer. Through this shawl, I am revealing what a filled-up heart looks like. You will see some sections in their absolute imperfect symmetry, lines streaming in where boxes were intended, and rectangles appearing being shapeshifters. Did I know in the beginning what this basket would look like? No! Did I want to see what it would look like before it was in front of me? No! It kept filling up moment by moment like my heart kept filling up. Something of it feels complete now. Something in my heart feels full now.

Sharing both through this shawl.

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The shawl is two sided. One side brings together diverse range of natural fibres. The other side is contrasted with ivory hued Eri Silk.

Himalayan Hemp from Baglung, Nepal

Indigo, Turmeric, Myrobalan dyed Hand spun hand woven Eri silk

Sheep wool, hand spun, hand woven in Changlang, Ladakh

Himalayan nettle extracted through retting process from Nepal.