Buy Shirt. Then Awaz Karo

I am giddy with delirious excitement. This year as I embarked on chasing adventures the universe would send my way, I took on a project that is a labor of love. I started designing a line of shirts with BlackLava. I've always been a fan of BlackLava and am a proud owner of their "Desi" check box shirt. When Ryan Suda, the mind behind the enterprise at BlackLava approached me about designing shirts, I nearly fell out of my seat. Literally.

As I traveled around South Asia collecting stories on revolution, activism, and family histories for a project I'm working on, I kept an eye out for things to inspire me. I didn't want to create just any designs - but like all the other designs on the BlackLava site, I wanted to create a progressive message. I returned from my trip brimming with ideas, images, and stories racing through my mind. I started sketching, and thus, the TazzyStar line of clothing out of BlackLava was born. We should be releasing new product once every couple of months.

My first shirt is a title "Awaz Karo" and pictured above. You may recognize it from a poem I wrote earlier this year. Here's the complete story....

Riding in a quintessential yellow Ambassador taxi cab on the streets of Calcutta, the back ends of lorry trucks kept racing by my window. Unlike in the rest of India where signs read "Horn Okay Please" here in Calcutta the back of the trucks were elaborately painted with "Awaz Karo." The word 'Awaz' meaning 'noise', and 'Karo' meaning 'make.' "Make Noise."

I was in Calcutta to collect stories on revolution, from the old timer Naxalite activist with stories on Marxist activism in the 60s, to visiting the my grandfather's college which was the center to his Partition story, to roaming the streets with a present day pavement dweller activist.

I couldn't help but think, these lorries were sending me a message. They were telling me to be the voice of the voiceless, that social injustice exists and rebellion is weaved into the fabric of our history. It was reminding me to "Make Noise."

August 18th is the last day the shirt will be available at the sale price of $15. They run for $20 usually. But if you hang tight, the logo will be printed on tank tops and scarves very soon. So if you are anti-t-shirts like me, there will be fashionable options coming along soon.

Source: http://tazzystar.blogspot.com/2010/08/buy-shirt-then-awaz-karo.html