POOR STATE OF MAJESTIC CRAFTSMANSHIP

The ancient art of Indian handloom clothes and its fineness used to be legendary. It is time the current Government saves which the British Raj left in tatters. Nobody has tried to pick up the pieces to save this traditional art and business

The art of weaving in India is as old as Indian civilisation. The Rig Veda has elaborate details of Indians’ uncanny skill to weave the finest quality of handloom clothes.

Traces of fine cotton fabrics were found in the excavated sites of Mohenjo-daro.

India was the chief exporter of handloom clothes to most of the developed nations and handloom export contributed to India’s phenomenal increase in its share in the world income to 25 per cent in 1,700 AD which was equal to the total income of the entire European productions earned.

Court poets in theMughal durbar compared Indian Muslims to baft hawa (woven air), abe rawan (running water) and shabnam (morning dew). As per a folklore, Emperor Aurangzeb was blind with rage when he saw to his surprise that his daughter Zeb-un-Nissa moving without a dress.

Auranzeb summoned his daughter and in blind fury was about to put her in dungeon. His daughter explained that she had worn seven jamahs (dresses) to cover her body. Such was the fineness and splendor created by the Indian weavers.

The British Raj systematically destroyed Indian weaving traditions by forcibly dumping down its coarse mill made clothes, imposing excess tax on weavers, punishing them for no fault and even cutting their fingers.

The British had changed the education system to groom more spinelessness for men and women to blindly help the Raj.

They diverted Indian children from their natural love for their culture and tradition. A few blind beliefs were highlighted to defame the entire Indian culture which was business ploy. Many generations of young men and women grew up in an atmosphere which seldom taught them how to appreciate Indian art and craft.

Today, a majority of handloom promoters cannot distinguish a pure handloom cloth from mill made clothes.

Despite adverse situations, many of our weaving traditions have survived the British Raj’s ruthless policies against indigenous products and the abysmal ignorance of the Indians in the post-independent period. Indian handloom weavers still add high value to ordinary cloth.

In the early 1990s, the Maratha supremo, Sharad Pawar purchased a Sonepur silk saree from Odisha at the cost of Rs 1,06,000 for his daughter’s marriage. The weavers of Sonepur weave exotic silk sarees with threads of gold for special occasions. Those sarees have exclusive buyers both in India and in abroad.

Unfortunately, the makers of those exclusive high end products do not get the profit margin they deserve. It is too difficult for a skilled weaver to market his products. He has to rely on master weavers, weavers’ societies and marketing agencies.

In many places the master weavers, traders and middlemen exploit the weavers’ innocence, illiteracy and helplessness. The original weavers are kept in the dark. Continuous low wage and little hope for future earning compel many veteran weavers to give up the job.

Their children are no longer interested in weaving due to low wages, uncertain future and lack of transparency in marketing chain.

In the past, veterans used to pass on the weaving skill to the next generation, and the new generation kept the tradition alive and pass on to their next generation, and so on. Now the handloom weavers are at the crossroads and they have nobody to pass on their skill to, which once added high value to simple clothes.

Without skill and artistry, the handloom clothes are as ordinary as a mop. As per the Annual Report of the Ministry of Textiles, the handloom export of the country has declined to Rs 1,500 crore in the fiscal 2015-16 — from Rs 2,240 crore in 2014-15.

The number of handloom weavers in the country has also come down from 65.5 lakh from the second handloom census in 1995-96 to 43 lakh as per the third handloom census in 2009- 10.

Recently, the Goods and Services Tax calculation, on handloom clothes, totals up to nearly 23 per cent at various stages of production, procurement and sale which may affect the sector. The Government should make the tax rate easy, keeping in view of the life and livelihood of millions of weavers.

Dumping down of cheap millmade fabrics from China and other countries and sale of those clothes in the name of handloom clothes make the classy handloom traditions sick. It is a myth that handloom clothes are expensive and do not have good finish compared to mill-made clothes.

A report on market research for promotion of India Handloom brand, prepared by the Majestic Market Research Support Services Limited for National Handloom Development Corporation found that handloom products are well appreciated by the young Indians because of its excellent fabric quality and a different overall look.

Indian climate is primarily hot round the year and handloom products, being airy, are the ideal fabric to put on.

The handloom sector still has immense potential to generate employment and earn huge foreign currency. This is high time to try and evolve a sound national handloom generation policy.

Source: http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/oped/poor-state-of-majestic-craftsmanship.html