The brief was to let the border carry as much meaning as the centre: one lotus-rosette mandala held in the middle, then a scrolling lotus-and-leaf vine that repeats the flower around the frame rather than filling the field with rings. We kept the fill near half so the geru ground stays open between the mandala and the vine band, the way a hand-drawn chowki breathes between its strokes. The bel — the running creeper of lotus and leaf — is a staple of Aipan borders, a continuous wish that the auspicious keep growing outward from the centre. Pendant lotus drops above and below tie the core to the frame; the corner fans answer the vine. White biswar on geru, no third colour, the line doing all the work.