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US President Barack Obama
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Sixty-nine-year-old Narayanappa is an avid reader and a hard worker. A weaver by choice, Narayanappa hails from a family, whose members have been in the weaving community for decades. For this master craftsman, his dream is to meet US president Barack Obama and present him with a silk scarf.
Having studied only up to sixth standard, Narayanappa took up weaving from a very early age. “I used to read a lot about achievers who got many awards, but as an illiterate and a poor man, I always used to wonder what I can do,” lamented Narayanappa while speaking to DNA.
Recently, Narayanappa read about external affairs minister SM Krishna’s invitation to US president Barack Obama to visit India.
It was during this time that an idea struck him to present the 36X36-inch scarf made from Bivoltin silk, which he had been weaving for the last five months, with the help of his wife Kamalamma.
“While any big wig would crave just to meet Obama and present gifts worth crores of rupees, I am a small man and thought of gifting him this scarf, that can be folded and wrapped inside a match box,” says Narayanappa.
Narayanappa personally bought the silk cocoons, prepared the thread on his own and apart from the handloom, he used his finger nail to great extent to set the weaving to perfection, which he patiently worked for whole five months to create the scarf with silk.
“Any one can test the material for purity, this is not fake or made with cheap China silk,” adds Narayanappa.
In 2000, he weaved a 6.5 metre-long saree with 44-inch width, which weighed only 35 grams and fits into a matchbox. Narayanappa used only three cocoons for the entire saree — two for the warp and one for the weft.
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