It's not about the needle

Quilts, as anyone who understands the depth behind the comfort, will tell you, are not just a means to stay warm. Any blanket could do that. It is an expression of homespun talent and a labour of love, mostly one that goes unrequited. It's a continuation of tradition among women the world over, ­­­creating an unorganized universal sisterhood of quiltmakers. All of this 75 -year-old Geeta Khandelwal discovered on her journey of quiltmaking, culminating into an exhibition with vibrant and intricately designed quilts mounted on the walls, and a beautiful coffee table book on the subject authored by her.

An expert needlewoman herself, she recalls how it all began. "I was 7 or 8 years old, when we would sit around after lunch in the long summers when there was no television, and stitch. My mother was wonderful with embroidery and I learnt from her. Even after marriage, I continued the afternoon tradition of sewing, playing with scraps of cloth, piecing them together to form patterns, that were slowly forming into quilts." But it wasn't until she attended a lecture on American quilts that her hobby turned into profession. Having met with the lecturer, who saw her work, she thought that was that, until a year later, "I got a surprise call from her asking if I would like to work together for a company in Sweden making quilts. I was so excited when I received the first order to make 25 quilts that I promptly lost the order. In those days, it was all about telegrams and postal services, so they were kind enough to send me a copy," she says. They would send her specifications of quilts and Geeta would execute these orders.

It wasn't that simple to produce 25 quilts. She co-opted local, unskilled unskilled, who needed a bit of extra income but were equally wary of venturing out of their homes to work. "When they found out they had to work with scraps of cloth, their disdain grew even more: they didn't want to work with 'chindis'," she recalls. What's more, their families preferred that they work in proper factories with shifts etc. That was considered more respectable, more 'izzat' than working in a woman's house. "One of these women's husbands would be constantly sitting outside the house, while the wife worked indoors with me. I asked him, why don't you go home, and he looked at me and said, 'Are you the 'madam'?" (which basically meant that he believed that quiltmaking was a cover up for a brothel). So little faith did families invest in their wives that they refused to believe that needlework could translate into income. Slowly they came around and with respect came another problem. "Since I was their boss, they wouldn't look me in the eye, or talk to me. This was an impediment and I had to bring in a woman who they could talk to, eye to eye and figure out what was expected of them." And so, quilts of various colours and sizes and patterns made their way around the world, to Galleries LaFayette, Harrods and the best names in the business, through this modest enterprise.

Until one day, Geeta felt she had done enough with exports. "I started making quilts for the sake of art and for museums." She started researching from the familiar landscapes of Panchgani where she went to school and Lonavla where her father had a farm. She met women, who at first were deeply suspicious of her. ("Do you want our vote? Which politician do you represent?)" were some questions thrown at her. "But I persevered. I spent hours and days and months talking to them about their handicrafts, about their way of life. I ate with them, learnt so much about them, and the beautiful work that they were doing, that it became the genesis of my book. I would take notes and then pour it into my computer back home. I learnt so much about their culture, their tradition, and the heartbreaking lack of awareness of the marvelous craft that they were producing."

'What's so great about these quilts?' they would ask, when Geeta would go into raptures over some wonderful pieces she discovered in their huts. For them it was a way of life. They were practicing the three R's of environment without realizing it: they reused, reduced and recycled about 6 saris to produce one beautiful quilt!

Although this is a non-organised sector, Geeta has managed to bring about a fair amount of cohesiveness. "What I could do is turn it from the horizontal to a vertical, by mounting their work on the walls" she says, but to turn this into a movement will take a generation." There needs to be a change in mindset, she feels. The women need to believe in the dignity of their work. They need to understand that this is not just 'timepass' but a tradition that needs to be continued. But it's a start.