FLY carpets or how a sudden rain can change your life
At this week after 9 months of manufacturing the FLY carpet series would launch, those are handmade wool and silk carpets, inspired by my art. The real story is how Bhadohi Carpets and I connected in the first place and what was the sequence of events to enable those marvel carpets to be created. There were many coincidences or as I use to put it ‘no coincidences’ that led to this unique collaboration between an artist from Tel Aviv to a Carpet manufacturer from Bhadohi.
When we speak about what caused two people to meet, we can begin with their parents or grandparents, because if their grandmother and grandfather wouldn’t get together, they would never have the chance to meet. So, I’ll start with how I met Aditya Rao.
It was in mid-2018 when I was invited by the Art Pivot Foundation to teach a FLY workshop in Udaipur, it was my third time in Rajasthan which became my second home with Rajesh Yadav the founder of the Art Pivot as a close friend. It was a special journey in which I delivered a FLY workshop in the Royal Palace school and then exhibited there and met the prince of Mewar and even spoke in the opening ceremony at the palace. 2018 was a very stressful year for me so I decided to take my time in India and not to rush back home when I finish teaching, so I searched for a retreat in which I can practice meditation and Ayurveda for 3 more weeks. I decided to dedicate a month to myself and in this month to be only in places that would elevate my soul and make me relaxed and happy, so before I flew to Rajasthan I started to seek for retreats in India and Nepal, there was a retreat in Rishikesh, one in Ladak and the other one in Maharashtra about 3 hours north of Mumbai, I almost confirmed my stay in Rishikesh when I got a mail from Jeanetta, the Fire Mountain manager saying that she is sorry she didn’t reply sooner, they just returned from a journey to the Galapagos Islands, she added that she had a look at my site (every mail I send have a link to my site) and she finds a lot of similarity between FLY and what Fire Mountain stands for, and she would be delighted to have a FLY workshop there. So, Fire Mountain it is, with no hesitation I had chosen them. When they picked me from the airport, I saw canvases and paints in the trunk and I knew I arrived at the right place. I arrived at Fire Mountain after midnight, only at breakfast I learned they put me in the room of Mark Griffith the spiritual leader of this place.
There are few places I feel at home, Fire Mountain became one of those places, each day with the same itinerary:
4 AM — waking up
430–530 meditation and yoga
530 — Dawn Agnihotra ceremony (celebrating the sunrise)
7 — breakfast
8–10 — writing session
10–12 — Ayurveda treatment
1230 — lunch
1330–1700- rest and reading
1700- 5 o’clock tea & biscuits
1730 — discussion on FLY at the dining room
1830 — Evening Agnihotra (the celebration of the sunset)
1900 — dinner
2000- 2100 — learning session at the dome
2100–2200 — meditation in the Hot Bath
There were 3 days in which I delivered The FLY workshops, and there were days in which they took me to tours around Ganeshppuri the nearby town, so, the stay at Fire Mountain was quite busy.
Mohini was responsible for their education system, she acted as my translator as well and was an active member in the FLY workshops, we became friends and it turned to be that few days before I left she had a birthday which she celebrated with family and close friends at a local restaurant near Ganeshpurri, I was invited to this event as her personal friend and there I met her husband Gopi and her son Aditya. The dinner was in an open space in a marvelous garden with delicious traditional South Indian food, I had a great time there speaking with the family members about my experience in Fire Mountain. Then suddenly the weather changed, it was so dramatic, from calm summer-like weather to a Monsoon storm, it was like the skies were pouring endless buckets of heavy water on our heads so we rushed inside the restaurant, where a new long table was arranged for us. I told this story many times since, the label I gave it was ‘coincidences in life’ or ‘how the Monsoon changed my life’ because as I’ll soon explain, a sudden change in the circumstances can be the outlet of a new opportunity, new era, new friend, new something… it is a matter of openness, curiosity, and acceptance. Sometimes we need time to understand what really happened, and it is not always evident at the moment it happens.
The result of this sudden Monsoon was that the seats changed and now I sat near Aditya, Mohini’s son, that turned to be a fan of FLY with many intelligent questions and a perfect English, so, because he wanted to know more about the essence of FLY I invited him for a learning session the next day, only me and him. It turned to be that this session was the beginning of a long and very surprising friendship, I had an intuitive feeling about this young man and offered him on the spot to be my representative in India.
The day after I had to leave, I had a morning flight so the car was ready at 4 AM and I had an early morning ride to Mumbai airport, I was glad to return home and sad to leave this magical place, I stared at the sky, the colors of the skies slightly changed from total darkness to light indigo, the dawn in Maharashtra is majestic, as the skies got brighter I rewind all the happenings in this long journey, my encounter with the prince at Udaipur’s royal palace, the teachings with Art Pivot, the trip to Ranakpur, one of the most amazing temples in India, my arrival to Fire Mountain and my new friends here and above all the fact that I offered a 22 years old young man from Pune to be my representative in India, this incredible journey got clearer as the skies went brighter, I have to trust my instincts, I have to free my thoughts and emotions so I can make my decisions about my life’s path with free mind without prejudgments. When I entered the plane to Israel, I felt free and content. If I teach the FLY essence, I must live by it myself as well. Aditya is from now on my representative in India and we will have a great future together.
The title of this story is ‘FLY carpets’ so, we’ll get there in a minute.
A few months later Aditya or Adi as I call him called me to suggest that I’ll visit the greatest artisans show in Greater Noida with him and his father Gopi, so, in February 2019 I found myself in Greater Noida, it was the greatest Bazar I ever witnessed, with artisans from all over India. Adi and me, walked all the show days through the booths searching for potential collaborations this is how we found those great people and companies that became our associates:
Rahul from Home Dekor in Jaipur that created a FLY Maharaja chair.
Mueed from Empyrean Export in Moradabad that created the FLY lighting
Romil from Casa Arte in Udaipur that created a new furniture line coated with the FLY images
And Avani and Pryam the owners of Bhadohi Carpets from Bhadohi near Varanasi that took upon themselves to create a FLY carpet.
It was a dream come true. Adi and Gopi were with me all the time acting like door openers and back office, preparing our meetings, and make the record of the people we met.
Gopi knew the manager of the IHGF event so I met Mr. Kumar with his team of advisors explaining to him my vision to have a FLY booth at the next IHGF show in Greater Noida and he instantly agreed to give us a booth free of charge just because the innovative idea FLY represents.
There was a lot of work behind the scenes with all the producers but in August the same year, our booth was ready with the furniture line of Casa Arte the Maharaja chair of Home Dekor, the big lighting jars of Empyrean, and the stunning FLY carpet of Bhadohi Carpets. There were myriads of visitors with so many new connections like Abdul Mabood, a traditional Muslim from Bhadohi that bought the FLY book and asked if we can collaborate, in January when I came to Bhadohi he showed me the first bags and cushions he had made with the FLY images.
At this show Pryam and I had time to talk, we decided to create a series of FLY Carpets, for that I said that I’ll visit Bhadohi and we’ll decide upon the designs and sizes. In January 2020 I arrived at Bhadohi for a magical stay in the holy city of Varanasi. Pryam and Avani became my family and we hanged out together all my stay there, I worked closely with their designers to plan a series of seven FLY carpets, the biggest would be 560 cm x 360 cm
I have worked with designers before when I made the FLY Ferrari car, or the fashion line in Milano, or the interiors and kitchens in Tel Aviv, but working in Bhadohi with the Bhadohi Carpets designers was an elevating pick of my career, I saw the images I created in my studio turned to be artworks on carpets, I said to Pryam and Avani and to Pankaj, Pryam’s father the founder of the firm, that this series is about elevating the carpets from the floor to the wall. When an artwork is weaved into a carpet it is not a carpet anymore but an artwork on a different medium.
9 months later Bhadohi Carpets gave birth to this marvelous series that we call FLY Carpets.
And I wonder would all this happen if there wouldn’t be rainy on Mohini’s birthday.
