Sharing this with my children, friends, relatives and students. The photos, I had taken of the fashion show was by an amateur but these are photos taken by professionals and through these photos one can really appreciate the fabrics of the handlooms showcased at the Maggam in Hyderabad. Long live the Indian handlooms and long live the Indian handlooms industry.
I was invited to Maggam, the vastra show by my friends Nitisha Baalay, Bharati Kuttoor and Bharati Swatantra and it was indeed a wonderful evening thanks to them. India has a textile weaving tradition of more than five thousand years. As a historian, I am aware of how rich our textile trade was in the past and how it was systematically destroyed from 19th century onwards. Many of the foreign travellers from Marco Polo to Nuniz, who visited India in the ancient and medieval period wrote about the textiles of India in glowing terms. Today there are about two lakh forty thousand weavers in Telangana itself with about seventeen thousand working handlooms and three hundred and thirty six weavers cooperative. Unfortunately, today our handloom industry is in a crisis and many weavers have committed suicide and have lost their livelihood for we have turned our face from handlooms to machine made materials that are cheap and easy to maintain but have no identity of their own. Many of the children of the weavers do not want to go into weaving and have become daily waged labourers. This was a wonderful initiative to show case not only the handloom sarees but also the modern dress, office wear, gents clothing made with handlooms. I have always been a big advocate of handlooms, having only two kind of sarees in my wardrobe, silks and handlooms from all over the country. I have been a big fan of the sarees of Telangana for more than half a century now. The Pochampally, the Gadwal, the Narayan pet, the Gollabama, the Ikkat the Dharmavaralm, the Uppada and the karnool cottons have been my favourite. It was a great experience to watch this show that had all varieties of handlooms and the show, was interspersed with short films on weavers craft, Kuchipudi dance. There was also a Jewellery collection of Telangana that was showcased. Mrs. Smriti Irani the Union minister of Textile inaugurated this with Giriraj Singh and Muralidhar Rao who is taking a great initiative in popularising handlooms. The show was organised by CBMD, Community based Mobilization for Development. I only wish and hope that the younger generation takes to handlooms, at least as a fashion statement and pumps in some fresh blood into this industry and give a renewed lease of life to these weavers of our state that weave magic into our fabrics and sarees with their breathtaking designs and patterns.
A great show and I am thankful to the organisers for this initiative. I am a great advocate of handlooms and my wardrobe consists of only Silks and handlooms from all over the country. I feel sad that today the weavers are committing suicide and their children are becoming daily waged labourers. We have turned to machine made fabrics and forgotten the rich weaving tradition that we have. Maggam showcased not only the sarees, but even office going clothes and gents clothes made in handlooms. I only wish the younger generation adopts handlooms and gives a breath of fresh air to this dying industry and the weavers that weave magic with their designs and patterns.
On 20th September, 2018, participated in the NAAC, Assessors Orientation Programme(AOP), organised at the Sri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha in New Delhi. Few women Vice Chancellors and many senior faculty from around the country participated. I am informed by the organisers that there were 9 Vice chancellors, 17 Professors and 19 Principals of different Colleges in today's program. This was an interesting experience for we learnt many new things including how to conduct one self, the do's and the do not's when we visit a University or College for assessment. I am amazed at how much there is to learn in the world and every day there is some thing new to which we are exposed.
Had two lectures at the Orientation course at Faculty development program at H. N. B. University at Srinagar. The participants to this programme are from different Universities and Colleges from Uttarakhand. The participants are serious and matured and there was a lot of discussion on Research Methodology and Gender issues. English looks an alien language in this region and it was really nice to interact in Hindi. Most of the participants are in the same guest house where I am and we have a lot of discussion outside the class too.
Day two on 18th September, 2018, of the Orientation course at Srinagar saw a lot of discussion on issues of Feminist Research methodologies and policies and laws related to Sexual harassment at work place. I have now connected to many teachers in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand and it was really nice to get to know the teachers and understand the conditions and restraints that they are teaching under. Some of them are in very remote areas where the many normal facilities like roads, buildings, libraries and staff which we take for granted in an Urban area are missing. There are now internet facilities but the networks are often down,a heavy rain in the region creates a lot of disturbances and havoc.
As I cross Dehradun, Rishikesh and climb up the hills,on 16th September, 2018, towards the Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna University in Srinagar, my spirits soar for it is almost like going on a pilgrimage in the Himalayas. I ask the driver to switch off the AC and slide down the glass window and put my face outside the window. I want to feel the crisp and fresh mountain air on my face. However, with in few minutes, I slide up the window and ask the driver to switch on the AC and sit in the comfort of the cool air inside for outside there is so much dust in the air that one cannot even breathe. Most of the mountain route is covered with a lot of dust and rubble piled on both sides of the mountain. There is hardly any stretch of the mountain road that is not crowded with a variety of vehicles each and every one going about the daily business of life. It appears that both Nature and Humans have conspired to ravage the mountains. I see so many landslides on the way and even a lot of construction for broadening of the roads. The seventies saw the Chipko movement in the Hills to save the Jungles and now we need another peoples movement to save the Himalayas. The Himalayas are a very fragile mountain range and the cutting of the mountains for such construction work will have an impact no doubt. The big question that looms before us is how do we balance development on one hand and the protection of the echo system and environment on the other. How do we save our mountains and yet meet the aspiration of the people and bring in modern development. As I enter the University Guest House, I again feel happy for I can see the mountain range and the Ganges from my room. Indeed a very beautiful campus at Churas which is only one of the locations of this University.
