“Not even one whole lifetime is enough to learn calligraphy and its different style forms "__ Sanjana Chatlani, Founder , Bombay Lettering
Passion is the exquisite feeling of being in that special moment of doing something you really love . Sanjana chatlani, the next door Bombay girl, who had an intense passion for various art forms, rarely knew that her passion for beautiful handwriting and art forms would become a full fledged career for her.
She has been in the news for quite some time and the moment I came across her outstanding contribution to the calligraphy industry, through Mint , I decided that she would be the next guest, over Koffee Konversations. That was the point from where our quest for her contact details initiated and believe me it didn’t even take 5 minutes to locate Bombay Lettering on the internet . Talk of her Instagram account, you immediately land in a wide space of passionate netizens, keen to join India's pioneer in the niche created by her very unique style of presenting handwritten messages . She is one of the very early adopters of this aesthetically pleasing and absorbing art . A few key words typed on your Google search engine and you reach there, as Bombay Lettering is now the most authentic and acclaimed brand, practicing and delivering the art of calligraphy, while Sanjana Chatlani is just another name for a classy and conceptual calligrapher .
"I never imagined that an art form would become my profession, however calligraphy happened organically"___ Sanjana Chatlani
This is how an extraordinary career looks like. Either you are two hundred percent sure of what you are about to step into, or you go with experiments. She experimented and explored, finally reaching upon an exotic and epochal point where her inclinations towards art and a keen desire to build an ethereal ecosystem for the world of calligraphy complemented each other . Calligraphy is a fascinating and figurative expression of feelings or sensitivity to emotions by means of beautifully handwritten words. The florid and metaphorical experience of perceiving messages makes it a profound art form .
We spoke to Sanjana to fix a date for an interview and she reverted with the compassion she carries so candidly in her words. “ Sure, no problem, I will definitely extract some time for this. "
Here’s an excerpt from the interview
Q . Hello Sanjana, we would love to know about you in your own words , though we have read a lot in newspapers
Sanjana ; Yeah, sure . I am a proud Bombay girl . My Soil, my family, my school and college and my very close to heart, Golden Retriever have infused all the love and warmth in me . All that I have achieved till today, is chiefly due to their love and adoration.
Q. So, is calligraphy all about beautiful handwriting?
Sanjana; Nope, it is much beyond a beautiful handwriting. It is communicating in an extraordinary way and it is about the feel we try to bring from a handwritten message . You can say that it is a perfect blend of unadulterated sentiments and sublime style of writing artistically.
Q. Was this your side hassle or you found calligraphy as the best mode of evolving yourself as a career woman ?
Sanjana : See it was a side hassle ofcourse as I never imagined that any art form would be my full time profession. Just like any other school goer, I too loved to paint, sketch and scribble. My early career started with a corporate house, called, LVMH , where I really loved working as this luxury brand management firm bestowed the briliance of experience, exploration and exposure to me . Somehow, during my leisures, I enjoyed diving down the world of Lettering artists. Instagram is full of information about Lettering art and artists. There I tried experimenting by simply creating stuff, I was fascinated about . Practice makes an art perfect and pristine . Literally speaking at one point of time I was deeply into both the planets, one was my corporate job and the other was Lettering art. One fine day I received the very first order and gradually I started getting orders from people who knew me , like my friends and relatives. There has to be a point when you are bound to take one side and this was the nodal point, from where the genesis of Bombay Lettering happened. I decided to quit my corporate job to switch to full time calligraphy.
Q. Was there any moment during your entrepreneural journey, when you thought of giving a second thought to it?
Sanjana ; Actually no as when I started in 2017, I was one of the early movers and I got the benefit of it. At the same time, I was kind of prepared to take some casual comments or feedback from people who weren’t getting , what I was into . To them I was simply an art lover, trying to discover some tranquility into it. It was only after I started off with Bombay Lettering, when they could eventually realize that it was a very vast and dynamic world. Then , there was another challenge and it was fixing a price tag to your products and services . People really had no idea about how a handwritten message was more luxurious than a printed one .
Q. What is the core business of Bombay Lettering ?
Sanjana; Aah.. so..we have 3 buckets. We have expanded into basically three segments of service .
A. Commissioned orders. Taking personalized orders from businesses and customers
B. Selling products like gift items and kits for calligraphy and having online store
C. Imparting education to people who are keen to learn this art form through both online and offline workshops .
Q. How has calligraphy evolved over the time. ?
Sanjana; Well classical calligraphy is very much particular in its style and methods. This can be traced back to different languages . English calligraphy goes back to 600 BC, similarly you have Chinese, Japanese, Islamic calligraphy. They use very specific tools . But modern calligraphy has picked up through social media in last 5 years . People moreover use pointed pen , markers, brush pens but all these are breaking rules of traditional styles .
Q. Your biggest strength ?
Sanjana; I try to make people feel connected to a human being, not to a brand as we want to add the element of warmth to our deliverables.
Q What according to you , a young person must do to make calligraphy as a career?
They should be artistically inclined. When you do something for fun , it is totally different from when you do it as your work, it requires a lot of dedication and there is no room for your mood.swings A youngster must experiment, explore and then go for any decision. Do what you really love .There must be clarity of thoughts and actions . Remember one door is connected to the other . Embrace the moment.
Q. How would you define womanhood
Sanjana ; According to me, Bombay Lettering and womanhood are intricately intertwined. Womanhood is about Elegance, Strength, Creativity and Empathy .
_________________________
Lettering art is a free-flowing journey of beautifying words and creating a mesmerizing experience for the readers. Even in the digital age, hand-made letters and crafted designs continue to create intimate connections between people. With the same passion and her love for art, design, and calligraphy, Sanjana Chatlani - a former corporate employee from the Luxury Brand Management space, began a new journey in calligraphy as a passion project. In the course of 4 years, Sanjana has turned her love for lettering into a successful commercial business and is India’s 1st commercial calligrapher after having established The Bombay Lettering company - an exclusive boutique studio for lettering and design services. During her creative journey, Sanjana has worked for corporations, brands, individuals, and weddings. She is known to work on various large surfaces in addition to ink on paper that includes but are not limited to wood, mirror, glass, acrylic, stone, fabric, and more. Her clientele includes Reliance & Nykaa which involve on-site calligraphy projects along with other brands like Jimmy Choo, Michael Kors, Rolex, The Wedding Filmer, The Ritz Carlton, LVMH, Future Group, Tata Zoya to include a few and was also associated as the celebrity calligrapher for the wedding of Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas. Sanjana loves to work with various styles including Copperplate Calligraphy, Spencerian, Modern lettering, and various modern pointed pen techniques and is constantly looking to adopt more. Currently, she is training under Master Calligrapher Achyut Palav for Devanagari and is the student and mentee of Master Penman Barbara Calzolari from Italy and has learned with renowned calligraphers from across the world. Not only this, but She also has an online store for Calligraphy tools, supplies, and accessories making her one of the very few distributors in India for supplying some of the best Calligraphy paraphernalia from all over the world. Watching many more artists evolve into expert calligraphers encourages her to inspire more creators to find their true passion and aims to teach what she has mastered along the way by conducting interesting workshops.
Here’s a link to the podcast.