The hand-loom heritage, let’s not let it die!

India has one of the finest textile traditions in the world. The hand-loom industry of India is as old as our civilization itself and boasts of a lot of living traditions to this day. According to historians, hand-loom came up about 2,000 years ago in England by the Romans. However, Indian hand-woven fabrics have been known since time immemorial.

The hand-loom forms a precious part of our generational legacy and shows the richness and diversity of our country and the artistry of our weavers.  Weaving by hand is a part of the country’s cultural ethos. The hand-loom sector has a unique place in our economy. It has sustained due to transferring skills from one generation to another. The strength of the sector lies in its uniqueness, flexibility of production, openness to innovations, adaptability to supplier’s requirements and the wealth of its tradition.

While hand-loom is an important craft product and make up for one of the largest cottage industries of the country with millions of looms weaving cotton, silk and other natural fibers, it needs a constant growing market to live long. There is hardly any place within the country where weavers do not exist, each weaving out the traditional beauty of India's precious heritage. From Kashmir in the North to Kanyakumari in the South and from Gujarat in the West to Assam in the East each region has a distinctive style, design and art pattern and craftsmanship so perfect that even best of the machines cannot compete. While the products adored the question whether the hand-loom sector is really thriving and expanding is important.

According to the government statistics hand-loom weaving is one of the largest economic activities in our country after agriculture, providing direct and indirect employment to more than 43 lakh weavers and allied workers. The sector contributes to nearly 15% of the cloth production and contributes to the country’s export earnings. Around 95% of the world’s hand woven fabric comes from India. Against all these figures why the hand-loom sector especially in the hills and far-flung areas of the country jostling to survive existence in today’s mechanized world is a question that need an answer.

For the benefit of many new age children of today, a 'hand-loom' is a loom used to weave cloth without the use of any electricity. Hand weaving done on pit looms (a device used to weave cloth and tapestry) or frame looms (a frame that warp the yarn directly on it for weaving) generally in weavers' homes. Weaving is primarily the interlacing of two sets of yarn – the warp (length) and the weft (width). The weavers who weave on the hand-loom are also called “Julaha”. The term Julaha derived from the Persian julah (ball of thread). Other explanation put forth by Julaha themselves includes "jal (net), jils (decorated) or uila (lighted up, or white)". The hand-loom is also synonym to Sant Kabir the 15th century Indian mystic poet, saint and a weaver by occupation.

While on a cursory visit to a large hand-loom fair in Dehradun a couple of months back I came across a very unique exhibition booth which had no visitors in a fair thronged by people. I feel the lack of simplicity it portrayed kept people at bay. As a stray visitor to the booth the staff on duty all mid-aged, in their traditional Uttarakhandi hilly attire approached me with a smile breaking the monotony of sitting their ideal. Knowing that I write, a glen of hope emerged in their eyes as if wanting the many issues grappling the hand-loom sector reach wider section of people.

The point that comes to mind is when we can’t encourage by even simply visiting (that involves no cost) such exhibition booths who have success stories to share working against odds to simply garner support and encouragement of the people how can we give them a market for a brighter future. Government alone cannot do it!

My curiosity was greater than the men there to tell me what the big wooden hand-loom unit installed at the center of the spacious booth meant. Undoubtedly, the exhibition booth was an effort to offer a live demo to the visitors of how the hand-loom unit works and the tedious labour that goes in to make a piece by the hill craftsmen. It even showcased the work of the many hill region hand-loom clusters through photographs, literature that have worked under the aegis of the textile ministry of the government. All this was to appraise the people and specially the youngsters about the field of weaving, designing and processing by hand which is beyond compare.

Informing me, a humble and “feeble” voice of an old man, who may have dedicated his entire life for the cause of hand looms, stated with great “enthusiasm” how through such hand-loom units as installed at the exhibition booth craftsmen have over the ages made immaculate pieces of textile.

The point I am trying to make here is an emphasis on the words “feeble” and “enthusiasm” that I have just mentioned. While the hand-loom sector in the hills and far-flung areas of the country is in a "feeble" state of affairs for lack of support and patronization by the people at large, the silver lining of hope stated through the word "enthusiasm" as reflected by the man at the exhibition booth is the unflinching support by the government at the highest level to make this handicraft sector grow and reach out to all in bigger numbers if not equal to what the mechanized textile offer through large production.

Today, unfortunately hand-loom is confining to as an art lover’s choice than by the masses. The growth can only come if the people at large come forward to buy more hand-loom woven textiles to those of machine least this art form will slowly become extinct as newer artisans will refrain to take up this profession for lack of market even though the government may support it.

Interesting was the fact the man at the exhibition booth shared about the Weavers’ Service Centre of Chamoli where he came from. The Centre set up the government over three decades back caters to the needs of the hand-loom weavers and clusters in and around Uttarakhand and adjoining States in their pre-loom (The yarn either unbleached "kora" or dyed using natural dyes is wound on bobbins of two different sizes), no-loom (A hand-operated wooden frame loom used to weave the warp) and post looms (The post loom processes vary depending on the intended garment or finished product like stitching, block printing, Embroidery, Tie-dyeing, Shrinking and Ironing) processes.   

Besides the many activities he narrated, the one related to the facility extended by the Centre to train new weavers stands out. It reflects still youngsters and women folk in the hills who are banking on hand-loom for living. Its time this spirit not be diluted. Hand looms while it provides an alternate income for families who can work from their homes also help in controlling the issue of migration from far-flung villages in the hills. “The Centre assists the hand-loom sector in upgrading-skill, development/diversification of hand-loom products, technical advice etc.”, he informed me.

To upgrade the skills of hand-loom weavers/workers in the field of design development/ weaving/dying under on-going in-house short-term training programmes by the Centre appeared good to ears. I only hope all these keep implementing and benefit reaching those it is for.

While the government since independence has implemented various policies to help the hand-loom sector to give a further fillip to it, India since the past three years has formally declared August 7 every year as the National Hand-loom Day to mark this day in memory of the Swadeshi Movement launched on August 7, 1905. The movement involved revival of domestic products and production processes. The day also rededicates the government’s ongoing commitment to make the hand-loom sector survive and thrive. Its time new catalysts spur it up. The only catalyst is you and me coming forward to offer a bigger market to the hand-loom products.

Hand looms, just like Khadi acts as a tool for social change by breaking the caste barriers, by bringing people from different backgrounds on the same platform and giving them a dignified way of life.

World over, there is great demand for hand-woven fabric and only India still has hand looms left. Whatever is remaining will soon getting wiped out however best the government may try with its many initiatives if not encourage and supported by one and all. There is an urgent need to boost work of the traditional weavers to make sure the art-form lives long. Come let’s make sure our artisans do not get extinct with the passage of time simply because of our over-looking them.