We’ve had a few people ask us about our business cards. We don’t make them ourselves, we do stamp them ourselves though. Have a look...
In the south of India, in the state of Tamil Nadu, there’s a city called Pondicherry. Many people visit it to attend the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and explore the nearby community of Auroville. The latter has at its centre the most impressive meditation hall we have ever had the privilege of meditating in. From a distance it looks a bit like a massive golden gold ball rising from the ground. As a visitor to Auroville you can join a tour and get 30 minutes inside the meditation hall within the ‘golf ball’. It's called the Matrimandir. Once you've entered it from below you follow a spiral staircase to a set a large doors which open up into a huge meditation hall completely decked out in white marble. In the ceiling there's a small hole with a set of mirrors which track the sun in order to direct a beam of light into the centre of the hall where there is a large crystal ball. The beam of sunlight travels down, meets the crystal ball, disperses and lights up the whole space. Magical.
Back to Pondicherry though… the ashram was set up by the same person who also founded Auroville; the freedom fighter and spiritual reformer Sri Aurobindo. The ashram has its own handmade paper factory. Here’s the link www.sriaurobindopaper.com. Some of their beautiful products include deckle edge paper, cotton rag paper, silk screen-printed paper and also marbled paper. Our business cards are made from their marbled paper. The marbling effect is achieved through a Japanese method called suminagashi. If we remember correctly this is how it’s done; with the help of a pipette tiny drops of ink are placed onto the surface of a tray of water. They then gently disturb the water by dragging a needle or some other very thin and fine instrument across the surface. As a result the individual drops of ink create this beautiful marbled image on the water. Subsequently they gently lay a piece of their handmade paper onto the surface of the water. After a short time the ink adheres to the paper.
