In slacklining, there seem tobe only two directions worthmentioning. ‘This’ and ‘theother’. When the solidground under your feet is re-placed by a single, taut two-inch strip of nylon, all con-cept of left or right, east orwest goes out the window. Ina panicked search for equili-brium, your body decidesfor itself which direction itwants to lean towards, in thehope of fi��nding solid ground(it won’t until it’s completelyhorizontal, which is neitherideal nor pain-free), whileyour brain valiantly tries torestore balance by turningall fl��ailing limbs in ‘the oth-er’ direction.

The simplest way to goabout it is to step off�� the line,and go home. I was on theverge of doing so, but pridecan be inconveniently insis-tent sometimes. So we stuckaround as slacklining enthu-siast Eashwar Mathur tookup the daunting task ofteaching my friend and I, thebalancing act at SemmozhiPoonga, where these infor-mal sessions generally takeplace.

To make matters worse,Eashwar treated the waist-

high, metres-long stretch aslittle less than solid ground.He walked from trunk to treetrunk on the quivering strip,turned eff��ortlessly, andwalked back again. The diff��e-rence was in his speed, andin the way his hands fl��ailed

about like windmills, seem-ingly independent from therest of his body. They actual-ly weren’t; they were beingmoved to keep balance.

He has been slackliningon and off�� for about threeyears, but only now has thepractice become regular,with his “club” drawing 20-odd people to Swiss Hutteevery weekend.

Age or even fi��tness levelhas very little do with it — thepeople Eashwar and hisfriend Janesh Wararaja teachare of all ages and bodytypes.

The two-inch line thatthey work on, is twice asbroad as the other standardslackline, and they decide

the height with safety inmind. Hard ground is a strictno-no at this early stage —there’s no expert slacklinerin Chennai yet, and very fewin the country as a whole. Noformal authority either, “it’sthe kind of thing you justpick up and teach yourself,”says Eashwar. Like skate-boarding, but with less appa-rent risks.

“It’s all about fi��nding yourcentre of gravity,” he said.The duo has trained them-selves through online vide-

os, and have graduated fromsimple walking to buttbounces, fl��ips and otherstunts.

On the other hand, myfriend S and I had turned in-to toddlers. Stumbling, tot-tering, trying to fi��gure outhow our knees and arms aresupposed to work. It’s morediffi��cult when you’re anadult, and have had years ofcoming-of-age escapadesthat constantly remind youwhat a twisted ankle or astubbed toe would feel like.Children don’t spend asmuch time worrying aboutthe risks.

S eventually learnt towalk, long before I couldeven stand. For the life ofme, I couldn’t fi��gure outhow. The only two hints thatworked were simple and oldas time — don’t look down,and focus on a point straightahead of you to walk to-wards. In the end, it was justa battle of the mind.

Balancing act of the mindSlacklining is slowly gaining pace in the city with informal sessions everyweekend. We attended one to fi��nd out what the buzz is about

:: Meghna Majumdar

Between the lines Age orfi��tness level plays little rolein slacklining * SPECIALARRANGEMENT

JAYWALKING!

The record for blindfoldedslacklining is held by PabloSignoret, who walkedalong a 422.82-metre-longslackline, suspended morethan 450.59metres in theair, in 26minutes.

....................................................................................................

Hard ground is astrict no-no at thisearly stage — there’sno expert slacklinerin Chennai yet, andvery few in thecountry as a whole

Fun and learningShruti BhatSpeciality: Children’s artArtist, blogger and ‘mompreneur’ ShrutiBhat, 38, started her website in 2009 tochronicle her journey and experiences withcraft work for her then three-year-olddaughter. “I grew up around creative ladies— my mom and grandma, who are myinspiration. Artsy Craftsy Mom is a humbleattempt to share the joy of children’screativity with other parents,” saysBengaluru-based Shruti.

Co-author of the book Learn with Play:150+ Activities for Year-round Fun &Learning, Shruti lists craft projects by age group on her website. “Running a craft blog asa business has its own challenges,” says Shruti. “We have to be aware of the latest trends,connect with the audience, understand the technology and now GST.”

After nine years in the business, Shruti admits that producing quality content everydayis a challenge. “I've stopped putting undue pressure on myself and now aim at publishingjust two posts per week,” she says.

Persistence is key to surviving in the online world, Shruti adds. “Make a small positivechange each day and success will follow.”

See her work on: artsycraftsymom.com; www.facebook.com/ArtsyCraftsyMomPage;@artsycraftsymom

Few of us remember how it feels to createsomething with one’s own hands. Even in

schools — charts, dioramas, carpentry, andstitching projects that once were clubbed

together as ‘Socially Useful and ProductiveWork’ (SUPW) or ‘Work Experience’ have

now mutated into a Google-aided mission thatrequires endless reams of paper printed off��

the Internet. And yet, it is the Internet that has provideda virtual meeting place for craftsmen and

women. Be it art, cookery, crochet, knitting,quilling, or Do-It-Yourself (DIY) projects,

nearly everyone who can make something isonline, posting to a readership that knows no

geographical boundaries.We spoke to three craft enthusiasts who

have carved their own niche in cyberspacewith much success.

GETTINGCRAFTY

Meet craft enthusiasts whohave carved out a niche forthemselves in cyberspace

:: Nahla Nainar

Daydreams thatcame true

Suganthi MohanSpeciality: Quilling“It is very important tohave a hobby. Right fromthe colours you choose, tothe materials you use andhow much eff��ort you arewilling to put into apastime, defi��nes who youare,” says SuganthiMohan, 46, a homemakerbased out of Chennai whois steadily gaining fans forher expertise in a heritage papercraft.

Suganthi came across quilling, the Renaissance-era art of rollingstrips of paper and gluing them in decorative designs, whileresearching ideas online for origami. “I started by making cards andselling them to my friends at our local library. This led to me create aFacebook page from where I receive most of my orders,” she says.

She focusses on both traditional and contemporary subjects, withher most recent work featuring a banyan tree that uses fi��ve millimetrestrips of green paper in three colours. Packed together in a tightbeehive pattern, the eff��ect is both mesmerising and awe-inspiring in itsintricacy and realism.

“The challenge is that content should not only be original but alsonew, which means one has to go from one level of diffi��culty to thenext,” she says, adding, “I’ll continue quilling whether I have buyers ornot.”

See her work on: Papercraftss.blogspot.in; www.facebook.com/quilltocreate; @suganthi_mohan

Taking wing with artprojects

Angela JoseSpeciality: Craft and homedécorMaternity leave aff��orded AngelaJose, 29, the chance to start herwebsite ‘The Crafty Angels’ in2013, that now features homedécor tutorials and craft ideas.

But balancing the blog alongwith her professional duties(Angela works as the DeputyManager at Power GridCorporation of India, Kolar), hasbeen a challenge. “Since The CraftyAngels is solely the work of a one-woman army struggling with offi��ce andhome, the pace of marching is a bit slow but I love what I make,” shesays.. The other ‘Angel’ in the blog is her four-year-old daughter Grace,an assistant on many of the projects.

With online content getting plagiarised often, earning money from acraft website isn’t easy. “Crafting is a niche topic that doesn’t have asmuch traction as beauty, lifestyle or fashion. So the return oninvestment is very less,” says Angela, who started out with her owndomain name and hosting. “Getting the template and design for awebsite require technical help. With changing Google algorithms, beinggood at craft is not enough to maximise exposure for your content,” sheadds.

She advises aspiring bloggers to try their skills out on a free servicefi��rst before moving to a self-hosted platform. “Blogging is a slow growthindustry and you cannot become successful overnight. If you love whatyou do, then blogging about it is always going to be a success,” she says.

See her work on: thecraftyangels.com; www.facebook.com/thecraftyangels; @thecraftyangels

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