Ami Shroff
'Being a bartender meant that I would be working at a bar or pub and performing in front of drunk people, at late hours.
'Playing with tools and ingredients is risky as you might get hurt or make a fool of yourselves if you don't practice your tricks well.
'The competition is getting tougher by the day...
'The audience always wants to see new tricks..
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Acclaimed bartender Ami Behram Shroff tells Divya Nair/Rediff.com how her passion for bartending got her to break rules and set new benchmarks.
Shatbhi Basu may well hold the record for being India's first female bartender, but Ami Shroff went a step ahead of her contemporary and set her niche in flair bartending.
Shroff has never taken a professional course and can never say for sure what she's going to perform at a event.
'I am constantly improvising my tricks. I get bored doing the same tricks,' she says.
'Besides entertaining audiences, I like taking part in competitions. It helps me learn and meet new people,' Shroff adds.
After winning the India championship in December 2014, she was one of the finalists to represent India in the Regional Finals of La Maison Cointreau, an all-women bartending competition held in Bangkok, Thailand in January 2015.
At the India-leg competition, Shatbhi Basu who was one of the panellists acknowledged her work and congratulated her too, she recollects.
The young bartender who has also worked as an instructor in Mumbai, tells us how she's constantly learning on the job and how she's evolved as a person through the profession.
Inspiration
I had been working since the age of 15, doing odd jobs as a saleswoman, co-ordinating at events and exhibitions, part-time alongside attending college.
I was about 18 when I attended this event where two guys -- Ankit and Shawn Dsouza -- were performing stunts at the bar.
Bartending was still catching up around that time, but mostly men enrolled for it. I was intrigued and wanted to try it myself.
My friend Delnaz and I signed up to work at a resto-bar in Mumbai and learned some tricks on the job. I gave my first performance at the Enigma festival in Goa and the rest is history.
Initially I could not inform my parents that I wanted to be a bartender because I knew they would be upset.
My parents -- my father is a lawyer, mother, a professor -- would care less about my choice of career, but rather about my safety.
So I told them much later and they weren't very happy about it.
However, one of my father's friends happened to see me at one of these events and he was quite surprised with my talent.
Amish Roofers Ny
He immediately called my father and appreciated my work.
Gradually my parents gave in and understood that this is what I loved to do.
I have never been to a bartending school so I am not a certified bartender.
I read a bit about different types of alcohol and their properties but I never took a professional course.
When I started off, there were bartenders who did stunts but none of the females attempted stunts involving props or fire.
I was among the contemporaries to be successful in flair (playing with props) bartending.
The challenges
Being a bartender meant that I would be working at a bar or pub and performing in front of drunk people, at late hours.
Playing with tools and ingredients is risky as you might get hurt or make a fool of yourselves if you don't practice your tricks well.
The competition is getting tougher by the day, so you must always be up-to-date with what's happening around you.
The audience always wants to see new tricks so you must have a ready trick up your sleeve all the time which surpasses the expectations of your audience, which can be quite challenging.
If you're a full time employee in a bar, you'll have to deal with hierarchy in management, which a creative person will not necessarily enjoy.
Also, the remuneration is not very great for full time bartenders in India. Most of us survive on tips from clients and freelance opportunities, which sometimes supersedes our monthly salary.
Since I know my job well, I prefer to freelance and work on my own terms.
The perks
I get to travel a lot, meet new people and learn new things.
The best part of the job is the need for adventure and the thrill of surprising and entertaining audiences.
Bartending is a creative profession and each day is a new day -- you have ample scope to use your inspiration and influences in your task.
If it's a good event, I earn anything between Rs 20,000 and 50,000 per day.
Moreover the appreciation you get from the audience drives your passion and keeps you going.
Lessons learned
At times people ask me how I manage to perform in front of and entertain so many strangers?
Well, the job has taught me to be confident and I can easily entertain an audience of 400 or more and perhaps even strike a 20-second conversation with each of them, if the need arises.
There are times when people tell me that I do stunts better than the boys.
I have learned that no matter what job you choose, you need to have a good team. In the end that is what will keep you going during tough times.
Everyone has bad days; it may not always be your fault.
But you need to find ways to motivate yourself out of the situation and see each day as a new adventure.
Advice
Be curious -- to do new things, to push your limits -- but also, be careful and responsible.
Photograph: Kind courtesy Kirti Chavan
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The Living and Learning Design Centre (LLDC) part of the Shrujan Trust, which has been committed to craft revival and income generation of craftspeople for close to 50 years in order to empower craftswomen living in 120 remote villages of Kutch to earn a dignified and sustainable livelihood. Every year there are over 4,000 women who work from their home at their own pace and their own time. Shrujan reaches the textiles and the threads to their doorstep and settles payments also at their doorstep as soon as the embroidery is done. The Shrujan Trust has also undertaken other large-scale projects such as Design Centre on Wheels and Pride and Enterprise.
ReReeti: Tell us about the LLDC and its components.
Ami: Set up on a 9-acre campus in Ajrakhpur in Kutch, LLDC is a place for preserving, promoting and celebrating the crafts. It is also a place where the skill and potential of practising and aspiring kaarigars (craftsperson) is enhanced so as to enable them to earn a dignified and prosperous livelihood. The museum complex, which was inaugurated on January 23, 2016, celebrates not only past glories but also the mastery and creativity demonstrated by the living legends of the crafts.
The museum complex has three galleries as well as a hands-on gallery. Galleries 1 and 2 will exhibit craft-based shows curated from the LLDC permanent collection. Gallery 3 will exhibit craft-based shows curated from the collections of master kaarigars and private collectors. The hands-on gallery will provide a fun experience in the practice of some of the crafts.
Image: The museum complex is part of the Living and Learning Design Centre (LLDC). It’s one of the first dedicated textile museums that showcases the history and conservation of embroidery from the western region of Kutch, Gujarat at Bhuj.
ReReeti: Tell us the story behind the name of the museum.
Ami: The name Living and Learning Design Centre expresses two core beliefs of the Shrujan Trust. The first is that design is the foundation of any craft, therefore, design innovation will be a key commitment of LLDC. The second belief is that learning should be an on-going process. Learning is living and living is learning. LLDC is therefore committed to learning: learning in different ways, for different sections of people – be they craftspersons, tourists, art and craft lovers, textile and design students, as well as members of the Shrujan Trust.
ReReeti: What are some of the highlights of the museum complex?
Ami: The first museum show in Gallery 1 is called the Living Embroideries of Kutch. The highlight of this show is the exquisite collection of large-size embroidery panels produced by present-day craftswomen belonging to 12 different embroidery communities of Kutch. Another key component of the complex is the crafts studio. Here, designers and craftspersons will learn from one another to create new designs and products. These collaborations will help the crafts to stay relevant and marketable in today’s marketplace, which is the whole wide world.
Other resources of the museum complex include the archives, which comprises storage zone for the crafts and conservation laboratories; the permanent LLDC collection, which comprises the Shrujan Trust textiles collection, commissioned contemporary works of master kaarigars, traditional and contemporary craft artifacts sourced from India and abroad; and lastly, print and audiovisual resources.
Image:The craftswomen belong to 12 distinct communities. Each of these communities practice one or more different styles of embroidery. For example, while the craftswomen of the Mochi community practice one embroidery, the Mutva community practices 18 different styles.
ReReeti: Why did you decide to establish a museum in this region?
Ami: The crafts of India are primarily located in rural areas. This is true of Kutch as well. Its glorious crafts heritage is part of rural Kutch where over 22 different crafts are practised even today. However, the general practice is to showcase crafts in urban areas. This creates a curious anomaly: those that practice these crafts, those that have the most invested in them do not get to see their own crafts displayed in their own environment.
That is why it was decided right from the get-go that LLDC would be a part of the physical and cultural landscape of rural Kutch. If the crafts of Kutch are to be showcased, including the huge embroidery collection of Shrujan, then the right place for them is in Kutch itself. Having the museum in Kutch also provides easy access to kaarigars and the rural youth. The museum and its artifacts will inspire them and provide them with learning inputs to enhance their design sensibility and creativity.
Image:The museum complex offers a unique experience of handmade crafts.
ReReeti: How have the local communities been engaged in the conceputalisation of LLDC?
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Ami: We wanted the craftspeople to be involved in significant ways. Information about their communities and their embroideries was gathered through intensive interviews with them. They were also involved in curating the exhibition and in the display of the exhibits; their approval was sought on each exhibit, be it a traditional piece of clothing and jewellery, an animal decoration or a three-dimensional artifact. Craftspersons, especially those practicing embroidery, thus have an understanding about what a museum is and what we are striving to achieve with their participation and involvement.
ReReeti: What have you planned for visitor outreach at the museum complex?
Ami: The museum complex is envisioned as an international level museum; there are three-dimensional displays, interactive touch screens, signage, posters, films, books as well as display of traditional as well as contemporary embroideries and products. There is a brochure available for detailed information and we are in the process of designing a timeline that will have pride of place in Gallery 1. There is also the museum shop. Workshops, short-term courses will also take place in the 125-seat auditorium and 25-seat conference room. These will provide intensive, need-based training to practising craftspersons. Master kaarigars will play a key role as teachers and mentors. We have also scheduled workshops for museum visitors and design/fashion school students.
Image:The hands-on gallery at the LLDC museum complex will provide a fun experience in the practice of some of the crafts.
ReReeti: What’s Shrujan’s vision for the growth of LLDC?
Ami Shroff is the Director of LLDC – the Living and Learning Design Centre, a crafts education and resource centre for the craftspeople of Kutch.