The India-France Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) was recently held in the University town of Aix en Provence where my French counterpart and I reaffirmed the breadth and promise of a partnership that has stood the test of time. At an investors’ roundtable in Paris, I had the opportunity to interact with various French companies that laid out their ambitious plans to expand their presence in India. There were companies sourcing sports equipment from India, companies making industrial gases and those that were excited about the value global capability centres in India have been bringing to their businesses. Later, the Indian ambassador to France mentioned Vastrakala — an Indo-French partnership that married French haute couture with India’s centuries-old embroidery traditions.

After returning to India, I travelled to Vastrakala’s workshop in Gudapakkam, Tiruvallur district near Chennai. The workshop was quiet, but never still. Heads bent in concentration, needles rising and disappearing, men and women engrossed in their work like the studio of the Japanese artist Hayao Miyazaki. Under patient hands, flat motifs acquired texture, shadow, and depth. I found myself moving closer — to understand how effects so intricate could emerge from movements so small.

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Vastrakala is situated in drought-prone Kanchipuram–Sriperumbudur–Tiruvallur belt. In the days of yore, when rains failed, agricultural work paused. When the ploughs took rest, farmers turned to needles, creating beautiful patterns on cottons and silks. Harnessing the reservoir of creativity inside them, villagers were able to tide over the hardships of drought. This art demanded extraordinary patience, precision, and discipline — a trait that dry-land farmers possess in abundance.

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As India opened up and Chennai attracted investments, these dry lands gave way to highways and industrial units. Several........

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