"A single woman is responsible for the way urban India wears a saree today," said Rta Kapur Chisti, a textile scholar and co-author and editor of the 'Saris of India' book series that go around 15 states and 108 variations of draping a saree. The woman in question was Gyanonandini Tagore, Satyendranath Tagore's wife (Rabindranath's elder brother.) "When she came to Mumbai, the Bengali draping was not considered elegant enough for outdoor wear and she adopted the Parsi style of taking the Pallu on her left shoulder," reads the introduction of the book on Saris.
Chisti is currently in Mumbai to hold an exhibition of Taanbaan, the handspun and handwoven label, which started on Saturday, and will continue till December 1. She is also here as NCPA has decided to hold the production 'Sari' by Daksha Sheth Dance Company that was persuaded by her to create a performance on the evergreen saree, its history, culture and its skill.
"Sarees today are only worn on special occasions, or in the corporate sectors to take strength from their identity. If you go around India, a saree is a second skin for a woman. You can swim, climb trees and ride horses in it. It is the most versatile garment that moulds itself according the woman's needs," said Chisti, who spent 10 to 12 years researching for the books, and another 15 to get it published, since publishers were averse to printing such anthologies.
"India is the only country left that still has the culture of weaving from hand. Indians have been wearing the unstitched garment through sarees, lungis, angvastrams and turbans for centuries. It is still relevant thus we must preserve this ethos. If we were the printers or weavers to the world before, now we are embroiderers to them," said Martand Singh, one of the founders of INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage)
Chisti fears that the quantity game in the handloom and textile industry is destroying the ancient skills and livelihoods of artisans and weavers. "A saree requires scientific and mathematic skills as to which dye and which pattern at what part of the 6 yards will hold how much weight. There was no system of attaching a fall to sarees or wearing petticoats earlier. The weight and pattern of the borders at both ends would see to it that the saree stays in place. Now, the quality has been compromised to manufacture greater numbers," she said.
She believes that we cannot compete with the fast producers like China, but our disadvantage can be our advantage. "The handskills need to be preserved because no one in the world can compete with that. It is our country's asset and it is disappearing. There is a huge difference in the handspun khadi saree and the mechanised charkha khadi. The initiative for low tech high skill needs backing, as skilled weavers are dying of starvation in some areas. The institutions created for them have lost impetus after they were formed in 40s and 50s. We need to provide health and education for them and there is a huge scope for the indian economy in this sector," she said.
She said that we have already lost more than 60 varieties of indigenous cottons and since independence, we have lost more than half the varieties of Tussar silk. "There is nobody to speak about this unorganised sector, and we put forth this question to everyone who says this process is too slow or difficult to produce. If the whole world had to follow one model of manufacturing, there wouldn't be so many economies. This issue is bigger than all of us," she said.
Chisti is coming to the heart of the mill economy because she feels that the city has the wealth, understanding and capability to support this industry. The city and the saree have much in common as the saree evolves into pants, skirts, gowns and costumes according to the social, geographical and political environment and so do Mumbaikars.
Exhibition of saris, dupattas and fabrics on 29 Nov-1 Dec (Sunday Open), 11am-7pm at Artisans Gallery, Kala Ghoda
To register for the 'Sari School Workshop' from 6 p.m Contact: 9820145397
The exhibition is in conjunction with 'Sari', performance on November 30, 2014 at the NCPA.
You can find more details about Taanbaan on: www.anandakhadi.com
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