Creating poetry out of cloth
By Thakur Paranjit

WINDING my way though the lanes of Bhuj, I reach New Bandhni Ghar, the premises of Adha Bhai, who produces the best work of tie and dye in Gujarat. Initially, the name seemed quite odd to me, but I was told that he is fondly called Adha Bhai Brother) because of his good nature and fair dealings. Winner of National Award for excellence in the art of tie and dye, he has put his heart and soul into his craft to achieve a high degree of expertise. Moreover, he has been educating and imparting training to other persons in this ancient art of Gujarat which has carved a special niche for itself on account of its distinctive designs and fine craftsmanship.

Tie and dye — locally known as Bandhni — is an important craft of the area. It is believed that craftsmen belonging to Sind brought this technique to Kutchh in the 16th century. Folk singers narrate the story of migration of people belonging to Khatri community from Sind to Kutchh about 400 years ago.

The members of this community are Muslims as well as Hindus. Even today they hold the reins of this industry. Designs on their personal apparel are amongst the finest. Hindu and Muslim pastoral communities living in villages of Kutchh wear skirts and odhnis embellished with Bandhni. Many a time embroidery and tie and dye go hand in hand in decorating the dresses of the people.

Nowhere else in India, has the tie and dye work attained such a good reputation and elaborate workmanship as in Kutchh. Numerous miniscule dots are tied according to a pre-determined pattern on cloth and it is then dyed in vivid hues. The magnificent array of dots holds testimony to the patience and skill of the Kutchhi men and women. It is an immensely time-consuming and laborious task with the number of knots exceeding a hundred thousand in an elaborately patterned sari. The best specimens of this work can be seen on a Gharchola sari — the wedding dress of a Gujarati Hindu bride. Dyed in auspicious red colour with motifs of elephants and peacocks in white and yellow dots, it represents months of labour put in by a number of expert hands. Lavish use of zari, thread enhances its beauty.

Though Kutchh has retained its traditional designs and colour schemes, other centres in Gujarat, mainly Jamnagar, are producing "modern versions" using unconventional colour schemes and fancy designs. For those who cannot afford to buy true Gharchola saris due to their high price range, imitation Gharchola saris at cheaper rates are available. The price is brought down by using ordinary red cotton cloth and sewing strips of golden ribbon instead of true zari. The quality of craftsmanship is also poor. Still cheaper versions are produced by creating the designs by roller printing instead of tying and dying.

An ancient craft, Bandhni can be described as a method of embellishing the cloth in a sophisticated style by manipulating the dyes. Though the basics remain the same, each village has its own designs and colour schems. Describing the technique, Haroon Khatri says, "First of all, the cloth is dipped into an indigo solution. Then it is folded twice — once lengthwise and breadthwise — to make its size one quarter of the origial one. A pattern is marked on the cloth. Experienced crafts people make the design in free hand; however, more and more persons are stitching over to using blocks dipped in red paste to save time (or to hide their lack of skill) for creating a number of dots circles."

The process involves tying, colouring and discharging of the colour. The three steps are repeated as many times as there are colours in the design. First of all attention is given to the pallou or border of the garment. Known as Sevo Bandhavo, it requires an expert hand. Using a loose stitch, a thread is passed from one end to the other so that the wide border can be converted into a pleated one by pulling the thread. Depending on the kind of the border to be produced, it is tied and dyed separately.

While tying and dying, a set procedure has to be followed. First of all, whole of the cloth is dipped into the lightest colour to be used. Then the dots or pattern, which are to retain this colour, are tied. The cloth is then dipped into the next darker colour and the procedure is repeated likewise till it has been dipped into all the desired colours, ending with the darkest colour of the design.

Mohammed Ghani and Yaqoob, who belong to the fast disappearing generation of expert dedicated young craftsmen, strongly believe in keeping the family tradition alive. "Our products are appreciated and purchased by the fashion designers and fashion conscious elite due to their quality. We put in our best effort to create elaborate and closely knit designs and also use good quality cloth. The tie and dye work of Rajasthan usually displays sparse dots and their colours too are not as fast as those of our work", they say. Usually the tying is done by women and girls of the household. All the family members of a craftsman has to help him in one way or the other, only then the family can make both ends meet in today’s world of escalating prices.

Apart from sari (both expensive and inexpensive) very reasonably priced cotton dress material, with tie and dye designs, is available for making salwar kameez. Silk saris and dress material with elaborate tie and dye work are a delight to possess. And so are woollen shawls. Depending on the quality of work and cloth, the prices of silk saris range from Rs 600 to 20,000. Similarly, the range of cotton sari varies from rupees Rs 500 to 10,000. The gharchola saris top the range in quality of cloth and workmanship. The traditional gharchola sari is invariably made of very fine quality of cotton, interspersed with zari, since Marwari businessmen do not consider silk pious for wedding ceremony as it is created by the silk-worm.

Mohammed Ali Mohammed, while appreciating the efforts of government to promote the artisans, attributes the poverty of the craftspersons to the avarice of businessmen who act as middlemen between the artisans and the customer. Apart from being illiterate, a majority of the craftsmen neither have the resources to create their own stock for sale nor can they look after the marketing aspect. So some businessmen supply them raw material, and take the finished goods from them when these are ready, paying them bare minimum wages. Thus they gobble the lion’s share of the profits, while the artisan had to content himself with meagre earnings.

"I agree that for some people money is everything and they do not hesitate in sucking the blood of their victims", says Ilyas Khan of Handicrafts Marketing and Services Extension Centre of Gujarat Government, "That is why we are making a concerted effort to educate the younger generation and helping artisans in the direct marketing of their products. We have been successful in our efforts and the life of artisans is gradually improving".