Muladhaar at Design Democracy 2025
Indian Craftsmanship and How Language is the Vessel
At Takshni, we hold a simple belief: language is a vessel. More than words or sound, it iswhat carries memory, sustains tradition, and guides our futureby reminding us of our past. Every mother tongue holds an entire knowledge system. Each phrase carries history, each idiom holds culture, and even silences teach us how to listen. With Muladhaar, our second collection of 2025, we chose to honor this vessel. The initiative was born in listening to the voices of our artisans, collaborators, and communities. Through their stories, we understood how language grounds us, how it roots us even when we drift, and how it survives in memory even when spoken less often. Our roots do not vanish; they wait in the words we once spoke and in the tongues that shaped our earliest understanding of the world.
AtDesign Democracy 2025, this belief found form. Our space at HITEX was not only a design showcase, it was an environment where language itself became part of the experience. The Mahabharata echoed in Telugu across the halls, gratitude was exchanged through shared gestures and smiles, and forgotten fragments of vocabulary returned as reminders of belonging.
The Kashmiri samovar stood as a vessel of memory, carrying verses of Lal Ded, the warmth of shared tea, and the resilience of a community that continues to speak through its traditions. “Language is a Vessel” reminded us that words are not only for communication but also for preservation. If a human is a tree, then its roots lie in language, culture, and tradition.
The centerpiece of Muladhaar was Angika, the woman who carried the living history ofKathakin her ghungroos. Every bell was a story, every sound a continuity of tradition that has survived through rhythm, performance, and oral narration. Through movement, sound, and image, Angika reminded us that art too is a language, with its own vocabulary of resilience, memory, and endurance.
Muladhaar was more than design. It was an invitation to reflect on how language shapes identity, preserves heritage, and nurtures continuity. For some, the experience felt like reclaiming a forgotten mother tongue. For others, it was a reminder of what becomes possible when language is preserved and carried forward.
For Takshni, Muladhaar is an ongoing initiative to safeguard culture through language. Language is a vessel of memory and imagination, a bridge between generations, and a keeper of our roots. When it disappears, the songs, silences, and stories that sustain us are lost. We remain committed to protecting these vessels of heritage so that art and language together continue to guide us back to where we belong.
