Chatting up Tanmayee Jhankar and Swati Namjoshi, Tania Roy comes back impressed with their ‘Busbol’ initiative and other projects that the young artists and enterprising entrepreneurs are working on

In their early 20s, Tanmayee Jhankar and Swati Namjoshi have already achieved what many youngsters aspire to achieve. The two girls, along with another 22-year-old, Dharini Shah, put up their first art show in the city recently. The show was a success, enough to pay off the loan they had taken for the exhibition and it also helped them earn a profit.

In a few days, Tanmayee and Swati will be heading to Kerala for a much-deserved break. For the past few months, the duo has been working hard. “Especially the last two months were very demanding. We were working from 11 am to 9 pm and after a quick dinner break, we would be back in our studio to work through the night from 10.30 pm to 7 am. But somehow we didn’t find it taxing. In fact, we quite enjoyed the long hours at work,” say the dedicated youngsters who are immensely passionate about art.

The two girls, who have been thick friends since they joined Bharati Vidyapeeth to study fine arts, have also started an initiative called Busbol that offers personalised handicraft. Last year, they got an order for Diwali corporate gifts. “We made 50 boxes of customised handicraft, which included handmade chocolates, paper lanterns, ceramic Ganapatis on wooden boards and handpainted coasters,” says Tanmayee, adding that working out the logistics for the bulk order was quite challenging.

“We had to give a budget to our client and then we had to work around it. We had to source the raw material at the best possible price. There were some added expenses as well. Initially, for the first 15 days, we were figuring out how to work out the logistics,” says Tanmayee, who along with Swati, handcrafted all the gift items. They made sure each of the 50 boxes had things which were differently designed. “So every Ganesha, coaster set and lantern had a unique appeal. And since our work involved a lot of creativity, we were not willing to outsource even if it meant long hours at work,” shares Swati.

The whole idea of Busbol, a handicraft and design-based company, germinated in 2011 when the girls were in the third year of college. “We started by making handpainted T-shirts, coasters, pottery, sculptures, lamps, etc for friends and family because we wanted to make the whole idea of gifting more personalised and fun,” says Swati. Busbol, which when translated means ‘just say’, was registered in 2012 and since then Tanmayee and Swati have been taking orders for custom-made gifts and have been working as freelance designers.
Bright &beautiful

The duo infuses a lot of bright colours and cheerfulness into their craft, which make them eye-catching. How often do you come across a red, white and black piano-painted coaster, or an artwork which has a bunch of bright red chillies? Explaining her art, Tanmayee says, “I draw still life and add a surrealist element to my paintings, and leave the rest to the viewer’s imagination.” Having a great inclination to art since childhood, Tanmayee is heading for her Masters in Fine Arts soon.

Swati has been drawing illustrations since a young age. “I have been extremely fond of cartoons and have also pursued a course in animation,” says the multi-talented youngster whose art is mostly inspired by music. One of her paintings shows a percussion instrument, which resembles a baya. “I attended a few sessions of Taal Inc’s Drum Circle, which inspired me to paint this piece,” shares Swati. Even the piano-inspired tea coasters is her artwork.

Along with art, Swati is also fond of cooking. She has done an internship in a five-star hotel in Goa. To give us a peek into her culinary skills, Tanmayee on her mobile phone shows us a digital camera-shaped cake that Swati had baked. “You must try her dark and white chocolates; they are awesome,” says Tanmayee and smiles.

Swati has also been a part of the Teach for India campaign. She painted a bright classroom in a school for underprivileged kids. “Art has great healing powers, which has urged me to apply for Masters in Art Therapy,” says the petite youngster.

Tanmayee has also worked with kids. She has been a volunteer with Pugmarks for three years and is very fond of adventurous sports.
Well, sports is fun, but what gives them pure adrenaline rush is ‘creating art’. Eventually, the enterprising duo plans to open an art space where they would showcase paintings, offer good food and live music. “Basically, we want to create a chilled-out place for youngsters,” say the peppy girls who are never short of brilliant ideas.

To know more about Busbol, call on 9822059002 or 9890065566.