Our Varanasi trip. A visit to a handloom textile outlet.

It was given that we went sari shopping first! We had some time to spare before the evening boat ride along the banks of Ganga Maa and the Aaarthi. Our guide took us to a well stocked outlet closeby. The owner was a suave and a friendly salesman. As we enjoyed a good cup of chai, we learnt that he was the third generation of their well known family business.

He showed us a clip of  his interview on cable tv and added that his master weaver was an award winner. Making a sari is a long process. Conceiving the design, making a drawing and the process template for the weaver to follow. Spinning the yarn is another story! 

We learnt that his weavers worked nearby. As we wanted to see their workshop, the owner deputed a person to go along with us. It was fascinating for me as I had walked thru a huge textile factory. It was a part of my learning process. My job was to manage the assembly of a draw frame, a textile machine, for an associate company while working for  Mahindra and Mahindra in Pune.                                               

 A skilled worker is always happy to demonstrate his skills 

As we waited for the show!

Tara liked the sari and is checking it out

Trying out the one she bought. 

The expensive sari in front looks gorgeous and it took months to make it.

The walk to see their workshops was an eyeopener!

It was less than a km from the outlet. 

The design and drawings are made in this shop. 

Turned into small gully 

Typical network of wires

His smile is endearing!

He operates the Power loom 

He ran to start another  powerloom for us to see.
The clatter was enormous

!

The draw frame I  was involved with is very sophisticated!

A footnote:

I was aware that the pandemic affected the handloom industry quite adversely. It was eye-opener to read an article on the subject in Better India website.

I quote:

 India has a vast handloom sector employing some 43.31 lakh weavers. It’s the second-largest employment sector after agriculture. Until the 2011 census, this sector employed more than 63 lakh people, nearly 87 per cent of whom reside in villages, with women forming around 77 per cent of the workforce, hardly making Rs 50 a day.

As the sector doesn’t fall into the essential services category, their plight doesn’t attract media coverage. Even in the current pandemic, the hardship of farmers, daily wagers, construction workers gets media attention but not the predicament of the handloom sector. Because of this, they are mostly dependent on the Master craftsmen who hire them on a contract basis, the weaver’s cluster societies employing them or the fashion designers who use natural handloom fabric. (There is more to read!)

Raji Narayan, a dear friend of ours, arranges exhibitions of handloom products as a part of the Crafts Council. I believe that the weavers participate directly.

Anita, another dear friend, works with weavers in India and imports their products to sell in the  USA. It was nice to know that she directly works with the weavers!

I am sure there will be  more such stories of  many organisations and notable people getting involved. I do have some worries . The  products are expensive, however I am not very clear about the return policy!

Technology has surely made the individual weaver poor. It has been a double edged sword. The claim is that  benefits will  be in the long term!

The handloom products we saw are certainly for the better off and surely not for the poor.  My hope is that the middlemen are not too greedy. 

Good news is that the mass produced products are more affordable as we see a change in clothes worn especially by the young all across, at all levels of our society.