Pulling the Right Threads

Shes surrounded by several young students,but designer Krishna Mehta is a picture of concentration as she runs her hand along the yarn set in the handloom.

Written by VIDYA PRABHU

August 7, 2012 01:26 AM IST

4 min read

Shes surrounded by several young students,but designer Krishna Mehta is a picture of concentration as she runs her hand along the yarn set in the handloom. After checking the warp and weft mechanisms of the loom (warp being the thread thats thrown across and the latter being the transverse threads that are woven),she pulls a lever,only to be told that she has pulled the wrong one. Mehta immediately corrects her mistake and goes on to weave some more of the coloured cloth.

Interestingly,the cloth being woven is ikat,a fabric that Mehta has used for several of her collections in her career spanning three decades. And the setting is the buyers lounge at Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) and the man guiding her is G Govardhana,a master weaver from Andhra Pradesh,who is conducting a demonstration as part of the Indian Textile Day. When I started out in this industry in the 70s,I would weave on my own. I also spent a considerable amount of time working and learning at Mumbais now-defunct Weavers Service Centre, says Mehta.

Govardhana is happy with the response to the demonstration. The bigger handlooms are actually easier to operate as the levers are at the bottom. Here,the loom has levers that need to be pulled by hand. But the effort has been worth it, he says.

This master weavers journey,in many ways,mirrors the state of Indian craftsmen. Hailing from a family that has been weaving ikat fabric across generations,Govardhana started weaving at the age of 15 in Puttapaka,his hometown. Thats all I knew,so there was no question of me looking at any other profession. Today,I have a workshop that employs over 500 weavers in my hometown and a shop in Hyderabad where we sell ikat stoles,dupattas,saris,dress materials,bedsheets,curtain cloth,napkins and mats, says the 61-year-old weaver,who counts Shabana Azmi and Kamal Haasan among his clients.

Also present at the demonstration was Aminaben Ismail Khatri from Kutch,Gujarat. She explained to the crowd the magic of tie-and-dye even as she tied the cloth into tiny knots that would then resist the dyeing process. Khatri,like Govardhana,has been in this profession for decades. Times may have changed but fortunately,the popularity of bandhini hasnt waned; Gujaratis across the country and even abroad swear by our creations, she says,adding that she has participated in several government trade exhibitions abroad,including the US and Poland.

However,Govardhana,whose contribution to the Indian handloom industry was acknowledged last year when he was awarded a Padma Shri,insists that Indian textiles deserve a bigger boost. While the awareness about ikats and the Telia Rumal (ikat cloth made with yarn that is oiled before it is woven) has increased,we still have a long way to go. Often the younger generations in the weavers families dont want to continue with this profession because of low returns. Only those who dont find jobs in the cities come back to it, he points out.

Mehta emphasises that this is where Indian designers can step in and do their bit. If only we realise the beauty of our own culture and heritage,we dont need to look elsewhere for inspiration, she says. Fortunately then,she wasnt the only name who turned up for the session; new designers such as Archana Kochhar,Karishma Shahani and Gen Next names Astha Sethi and Sidharth Arora,too,expressed a keen interest in the working of Govardhanas handloom.

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I would love to use ikats for my next line, Shahani was heard saying.