I was privileged to be part of an insightful panel discussion a few days ago in the UNESCO World Heritage city of Ahmedabad. The conversation, focused on the numerous weavers who are losing their jobs as the demand to adorn a sari is reducing. An integral part of India’s textile heritage is the sari. Each region of the culturally diverse country has its own choice of fabric, design and drape with designs inspired by the region's cultural and natural heritage and fabric chosen keeping the weather of the area in mind. The sari has been adorned by women since ancient times with the history of a draped unstitched woven fabric being traced to the Indus Valley Civilisation.
Traditionally, weavers would thrive as there was a high demand for handloom and there were also no other alternatives. Sari was also the staple dress code for women. However, now women are choosing to wear alternate outfits on a daily basis. So, while the sari is being celebrated on a global stage with Hollywood celebrities such as Gigi Hadid and Beyonce, the daily wearing has reduced marginally. The textile hub of Surat recently reported that the purchasing of a sari in the last decade has reduced to almost half of what it was. To raise awareness, in 2015, two women started a social media campaign called the
#100sareepact. The campaign encouraged women to wear a sari for a minimum of 100 days of the year. With more than 2,50,000 photos of women in saris being uploaded on Instagram it did promote the sari but the attention was short lived.
As a result, weavers across the country are struggling to keep their craft and tradition alive. The number of weavers in Tripura for example, is dwindling with the quaint village of Gobindapur, which was once home to over two hundred weaver families, now has only a handful of practising artisans remaining. Weavers here would only hand weave traditional ‘nakshi’ sarees. Embellished, with beautiful floral motifs and patterns, these saris would be worn commonly by the women in the region with more elaborate ones being the choice of attire for weddings and festive occasions. The lack of demand for these saris has led to artisans of the area giving up their traditional practices. The few artisans that are still weaving have switched to making ‘gamchas’ or a traditional towel. The average household income of a handloom worker in Tripura is below five thousand rupees. These earnings made are barely enough to sustain an individual let alone a family. Several efforts made by the government have gone in vain with a lack of follow through. The Deen Dayal Hathkharga Protsahan Yojana, for example, provides daily stipend for weavers being trained under the scheme. Sadly, most trainees come for the mere stipend, without any promise or commitment to continue practising the craft.
Weavers across the country are facing a similar fate. The artisans of Varanasi, known for their silk weaves, patronised by the Mughals, are also slowly moving from their traditional craft. There was a time when rich gold and silver zari (thread) would be used by weavers to create luxurious saris, which were an integral part of a bridal trousseau. The handloom weavers are now moving to the modern day powerloom and the real zari has now been traded off with plastic, synthetic chinese yarn. In a time where sustainability and fast fashion are being boycotted on an international platform, it is rather tragic to see historic crafts being sidelined nationally and cheaper saris taking precedence. Even luxury Indian fashion houses are choosing to commission weavers with power looms and fake zari given the possibility of mass production. Perhaps this is why, in the last two decades, lakhs of weavers of Varanasi have abandoned the handloom leaving only a mere thousand with the handloom. This is also the case with Gujarat's Patola weavers who were patronised by Indian royalty. In Assam too, which is recorded as the state with the highest number of handloom households, there is a sharp decline.
On August 7, 1905, the Swadeshi Movement started, encouraging the use of only Indian products. In 1987, the first All India Handloom Census recorded 67 lakh weavers in India. Over three decades later, in 2019, this figure had fallen to only 35 lakhs. In a country where the population is growing exponentially as is consumption, it is tragic to see these dismal figures. Low wages have discouraged the youth of the nation to take interest in practising these cornucopia of weaves, an important part of our country’s heritage. Several national and state level schemes incentivise weavers but sadly most weavers are either unaware of such schemes or are not able to follow through with them long term. While August 7 is now celebrated as National Handloom Day and plenty is being done to raise awareness, the impact is minimal and the demand still inadequate. Perhaps, more effective schemes would encourage weavers to build on their heritage but what will it take for more people to see value in purchasing handwoven products?