Making Of Seed Bands
Plantable & Biodegradable
Naturally Dyed
Embedded with Living Seeds
Handcrafted & Handmade
Recycled & Recyclable
Cotton: Organic, indigenous, not genetically modified (non – GMO) free of intellectual property rights (IPR free), non-hybrid, grown in Paradsinga 
Yarn: Handspun at Gram Sewa Mandal, Wardha and naturally dyed at Wrukshatone, Erode 
Bands: Handcrafted by women in Paradsinga and surrounding villages 
Seed Paper: Recycled waste paper, handmade, handprinted and plantable – embedded with live seeds 
Plantable: Embedded with live seeds Sow, grow & consume!
WE beyond US
each thread has a story to share…
Only WE, humans, are conscious. WE are intelligent. WE have feelings & families & histories…
All of these beliefs have been challenged & it means that “WE” need to expand beyond the human realm & imagine a new way of co-existing in this world. To accept this shift in our consciousness—to always be becoming—is our essence.
Like a cocooned caterpillar, the blossoming bud, water flowing downriver, or the continuous rounding of a stone—there is a tender beauty in evolving.
These bands are also ever-evolving—a bond from the transforming ecosystem in our farm to the quiet changes in all of us. “Pay attention to the transformation within & without,” they seem to say. It will surprise & nourish us on this journey.
Plantable & Gender-Inclusive Seed Bands handcrafted from non-Gnentically-Modified & Intellectual-Property-Rights-free naturally dyed & hand-spun yarn of organically grown, Indigenous cotton. Plantable Seed Papers on which bands are wrapped are handmade, up-cycled & biodegradable.
SB2312001: The Metamorphosis
Seeds: Soapnut, Amaranthus, Purslane, Basil
Caterpillars are astonishing creatures. Their way of transforming into butterflies moves from egg to larva to pupa. And finally, the cocoon breaks to reveal the winged wonder of an adult butterfly.
This movement is completely alien to us, but over 75% of known insects (bees, beetles, flies, wasps, moths, even ants) use this technique to grow. When we take such a complex process, & cut it off at its beginning because we think of these insects as pests, we unintentionally stop pollinators from growing—which means a less colourful, less playful, & less diverse ecosystem. This band, which moves between stages when you pull on the caterpillar, is a gentle reminder that there are things beyond our reach & understanding which should invoke awe & surprise in us.
SB2313001: Into The Deep (Band for Couples)
Seeds: Fever Nut, Amaranthus, Purslane, Basil
It is hard to imagine a creature more alien to us than the octopus.
In the depths of the sea, here is an eight-limbed wonder with three hearts—one whose body changes shape & colour, whose blood runs blue, who squirts venom when threatened & even tastes with its skin!
And yet, octopuses show individual personalities, recognise others, form social bonds, & even exhibit curiosity—traits that we consider quite human.
So tie this band & extend a gentle tentacle into the water, connecting with all its deep blue mysteries, until it feels familiar again. Float out among the octopuses & fishes, the otters & corals, seaweeds & stars—the ocean floor is a place so wondrous that we can’t help but be humbled by it.
SB2310001: Leapfrogging Upwards
Seeds: Sword Bean, Amaranthus, Purslane, Basil
We often think of frogs as earthbound creatures—amphibious by nature, leaping over water & land. There is so much we don’t imagine them being—arboreal, for example!
Frogs like the monkey frogs, tree frogs, & even some bush or shrub frogs spend large parts of their life among tall trees & even bamboo! Endemic to the Western Ghats, the rare white-spotted bush frog breeds inside shoots of bamboo. Father frogs look after the eggs, which hatch directly into froglets!
The frog in this band, playful & googly-eyed, has a tongue made from the sword bean seed which peeks out whenever its head is pressed. The world will be revealed if we pay attention, it seems to tell us. All we need is curiosity, & ready…set…jump!
SB2385001: Every Stone is a Life
Seeds: Spinach, Pumpkin, Amaranthus, Purslane, Basil
Rivers tell stories. They rumble & murmur, roar & soar. The mountains sing, wind swirling along their peaks & valleys. Every stone is a life.
We live among mysteries much older & miraculous than we are, & we can only hope to catch up to what these beings are telling us some day. Perhaps, water has memory, soil remembers our touch, & when our voice echoes in a valley, something hears it after all.
This band is a bridge to a universe beyond the living—where rainbows curve in an alien language, oceans reveal deep portals to a world under our world, & we,
Each of us
Are made up Of stardust.
SB2390001: Every Stone Is A Life
Seeds: Sponge Gourd, Amaranthus, Purslane, Basil
Rivers tell stories. They rumble & murmur, roar & soar. The mountains sing, wind swirling along their peaks & valleys. Every stone is a life.
We live among mysteries much older & miraculous than we are, & we can only hope to catch up to what these beings are telling us some day. Perhaps, water has memory, soil remembers our touch, & when our voice echoes in a valley, something hears it after all.
This band is a bridge to a universe beyond the living—where rainbows curve in an alien language, oceans reveal deep portals to a world under our world, & we,
Each of us
Are made up Of stardust.
SB2312002: Dear Diary
Seeds: Sponge Gourd, Amaranthus, Purslane, Basil
“Save your energy love, it’s too hot this summer.” “Take this herbal tea I just made for you sweetheart; infections are on the rise”. Before doctors or healers existed in our societies, this is how our mothers have been keeping us safe.
Now, research suggests that this “us” goes beyond humans. Mother trees seem to communicate with their seedlings & other plants in a similar way. Through a fungal network below ground, they talk, share resources, & form a system more complex than the internet that starts inside the earth & reaches for the skies. These findings not only humble us but also invite us to connect beyond our own species. Maybe the blank pages of the diary in this band are waiting for us to do just that…
SB2350001: Love Is In The Air
Seeds: Balloon Vine, Amaranthus, Purslane, Basil
Bright, wide-open sunflowers & blushing lotuses, fragrant jasmines & twinkling periwinkles: the diversity of flowers can take our breath away.
They are nature’s most vibrant realisation of desire; their evolution is tinted with a hint of magic. Pressed in books & adorning our hair, these sensuous blossoms signal romance to us too, not just pollinators like bees & birds.
This band is an invitation to travel with these pollen & seed laden wonders: through the scented wind & flowing water, on the bodies of bats & the beaks of hummingbirds. Let’s make offerings of love, kinship, & gratitude by tying, sowing, & nurturing these bands, & open a window into wonder.
SB2350002: Love Is In The Air
Seeds: Wild Moong, Amaranthus, Purslane, Basil
Bright, wide-open sunflowers & blushing lotuses, fragrant jasmines & twinkling periwinkles: the diversity of flowers can take our breath away.
They are nature’s most vibrant realisation of desire; their evolution is tinted with a hint of magic. Pressed in books & adorning our hair, these sensuous blossoms signal romance to us too, not just pollinators like bees & birds.
This band is an invitation to travel with these pollen & seed laden wonders: through the scented wind & flowing water, on the bodies of bats & the beaks of hummingbirds. Let’s make offerings of love, kinship, & gratitude by tying, sowing, & nurturing these bands, & open a window into wonder.
SB2355001: Love Is In The Air
Seeds: Spinach, Amaranthus, Purslane, Basil
Bright, wide-open sunflowers & blushing lotuses, fragrant jasmines & twinkling periwinkles: the diversity of flowers can take our breath away.
They are nature’s most vibrant realisation of desire; their evolution is tinted with a hint of magic. Pressed in books & adorning our hair, these sensuous blossoms signal romance to us too, not just pollinators like bees & birds.
This band is an invitation to travel with these pollen & seed laden wonders: through the scented wind & flowing water, on the bodies of bats & the beaks of hummingbirds. Let’s make offerings of love, kinship, & gratitude by tying, sowing, & nurturing these bands, & open a window into wonder.
SB2375001: Love Is In The Air
Seeds: Roselle, Amaranthus, Purslane, Basil
Bright, wide-open sunflowers & blushing lotuses, fragrant jasmines & twinkling periwinkles: the diversity of flowers can take our breath away.
They are nature’s most vibrant realisation of desire; their evolution is tinted with a hint of magic. Pressed in books & adorning our hair, these sensuous blossoms signal romance to us too, not just pollinators like bees & birds.
This band is an invitation to travel with these pollen & seed laden wonders: through the scented wind & flowing water, on the bodies of bats & the beaks of hummingbirds. Let’s make offerings of love, kinship, & gratitude by tying, sowing, & nurturing these bands, & open a window into wonder.
SB2395001: Love Is In The Air
Seeds: Malabar Spinach, Rice Bean, Amaranthus, Purslane, Basil
Bright, wide-open sunflowers & blushing lotuses, fragrant jasmines & twinkling periwinkles: the diversity of flowers can take our breath away.
They are nature’s most vibrant realisation of desire; their evolution is tinted with a hint of magic. Pressed in books & adorning our hair, these sensuous blossoms signal romance to us too, not just pollinators like bees & birds.
This band is an invitation to travel with these pollen & seed laden wonders: through the scented wind & flowing water, on the bodies of bats & the beaks of hummingbirds. Let’s make offerings of love, kinship, & gratitude by tying, sowing, & nurturing these bands, & open a window into wonder.
Acknowledgement
The work of these Seed Bands has been made possible by innumerable efforts of several beings, both consciously & unconsciously. These beings neither start with the soil microbes or grasses which are part of the ecosystem in which the cotton of these bands has grown, nor do they end with us, Gram Art Project, or you, the consumers.
Yet, some of those whom we can acknowledge here are:
- Phule Anmol & AKA 7, the Farm Saved Gossypium Arboreum indigenous cotton varieties, which are non-GMO & IPR-free, whose yarn has been used to make these bands.
- The cotton cultivation team, which includes the bulls who tilled the land, the rural women & men who sowed the seeds, looked after the plants throughout the year, harvested and stored it, the team of dogs who protected the cotton bolls from being eaten by monkeys, stray cattle and other beings.
- Gandhi Ginning Mill, Saoner (Dist. Nagpur, Maharashtra State, India), who separated the lint & seeds of cotton from each other.
- Gram Sewa Mandal, Wardha (Maharashtra, India), who with its team of women artisans converted the cotton into handspun yarn.
- Wrukshatone, Erode (Tamil Nadu, India) & Magan Sangrahalay, Wardha (Maharashtra, India) who added colours to the yarn using natural dyes.
- Farmers, seed savers & seed collectors, including Shri Shail Herbs Pvt. Ltd., Nagpur (Maharashtra, India), who provided the seeds embedded in these bands and made them plantable.
- Alag Angle Community Art Center, Nagpur (Maharashtra, India) whose designers & artist students worked with Gram Art Project’s women makers to design the portfolio.
- 200+ rural women makers from 10+ villages in & around Paradsinga village who handcrafted these bands, which are gender-inclusive, and a sustainable medium to acknowledge our relationships.
- Mukta Patil, the writer who helped us put into words what we wish to express collectively through these bands.
- All the friends, family & consumers due to whose support, our collective journey as the Gram Art Project has crossed 10 years of existence.
We are grateful to all of the aforementioned and also to all those who we missed mentioning.
Heartfelt gratitude.