Raaga, a sensory exhibition where coffee and cotton meet

An exhibition at Bengaluru’s Araku Cafe, that leaves us with a better understanding of two distinct journeys, is also a marker on how to consume more responsibly

At first glance, the journey of cotton and coffee — from seed to loom and seed to cup — may have little or nothing in common. However, Raaga, a sensory exhibition at Araku Café in Indiranagar, proves that there are many parallel paths. Conceived and executed by Yali, the commercial branch of textile entrepreneur Ally Matthan’s The Registry of Sarees, and Araku Coffee of the Naandi Foundation — both of which work in the areas of organic, handspun, handwoven and homegrown — it talks about the common synergies of the two: grown organically and used sensitively.

When I enter Araku Café, I first head to the ‘bar’. Matthan, also a perfumer trained at Grasse in France, has distilled the essences of Araku Coffee’s offerings — Signature, Selection, Micro-Climate, and Grand Reserve, and their latest micro-lot, the Gems of Araku — into fragrances. A few drops of the essential oils on cotton leaf cut-outs of paper and I get hints of orange, pepper, chocolate, and citrus notes combined with a masculine, earthy scent that stimulates the nose (and sometimes confuses it). Another batch, which is Matthan’s tribute to Yali’s drapes, has subtler scents. Gentle notes tickle my olfactory, of cotton, indigo, madder, and gold zari, reminding me of the looms and the people and processes behind the fabrics.