Kachakadu

Tortoiseshell was used to make combs, small boxes and frames and inlays in furniture right upto the 19th century. Its beautiful transparent mottled appearance, its ability to be formed and carved and its organic warmth against the skin made it very popular  Tortoise shell behaved a lot like plastic, it could be shaped and fused using heat and set with heat. Now about garba....I remember coming across the word kachakada in a garba that I used to hear since my early childhood. The lyrics went "peli kachakada no dablo lavajo re o marwada" (get me the box made of kachakada oh traveller) The song is probably about a woman asking her husband (or a trader) to get things for her from his business travels. The above line is about a box made of kachakadu or kachakada. I also remember my grandmom using the word kachakadu for boxes made of transparent brittle plastic (what we now call acrylic). For me, as a designer, materials and their histories matter. So while I was researching I went down the rabbit hole to figure what that word actually meant. Apparently it means tortoise shell, and tortoise shell combs and boxes were most sought in Gujarat. They were brought into our country by traders from middle east. It fascinates me how even before I could see a material or read about it, a nugget of information was handed to me through a song. It was like a gift I was given,to unwrap anytime. Our folk songs are like that, simple on the outside, and a goldmine inside. Books can burn, computers can die but songs, they stay in our hearts and the universe. 

Tortoise shell trade was banned in the 1970s. Thank God for that!! Cause Tortoiseshell came from actual hawksbill sea turtle (Not tortoise) a critically endangered species. Today you see artificial tortoise shell used to make spectacles, hair clips and other such accessories. 

Artefact: Mom's bangles from her college days made of Faux tortoise shell. 

Pic : From an antique site danielsantiques.com. The image comes closest to what I imagined the kachakada no dablo to be!!

Overview of the song: Men used to travel for trade to different cities. Here a wife is asking her husband to get various things for her from the different places he visits. Most importantly she doesn't want him to forget the “kachakdano dablo “(a box made of tortoise shell which was usually imported from middle east or eastern europe )

The wife is referring to her husband as Marwada, one who goes to Marwaad for business. 

Song and Translation

Tame ek waar Marwaad jajo re, O Marwada!
 -do go to Marwaad one day, O Marwaada

Tame Marwaad thi mehendi laavjo re, -get me mehendi from Marwaad, O Marwaada

O Marwada!

, 

Chorus ~Tame ollu lavjo, pelu laavjo,
- get me this, get me that

paan supari, paan na bead,
-betel nut, betel leaf

elchi daana, raai na daana,- cardamom seeds, mustard seeds


hoke pelo kachakda no dablo laavjo re, O Marwada

 -Oh oh, and that translucent tortoise shell                                                                                     box!! (said with emphasis as a reminder)

Tame ek waar Patan jajo re, O Marwada!


Tame Patan thi Patola laavjo re, O Marwada! 


Chorus



Tame ek waar Ghogha jajo re, O Marwada

Tame Ghogha thi ghooghra laavjo re, O 
Marwada!



Chorus