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| Saturday, July 1, 2000 |
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ON my way to village of weavers, I was looking forward to a nice chat about the art of handloom weaving with an expert amid the musical click-clack of the wood. Instead there were tales of misery, helplessness and governmental indifference to listen to. Though it way only 8 o’clock on a Sunday morning, most of the working menfolk, including Zora Singh, the Sarpanch, had left for Malerkotla, about 5 km away and elsewhere. Jamil Mohammed, a young weaver of 15, lamented that the Khadi Bhandar located in Satta Bazar, Malerkotla, was not buying their stuff for the past three months or so. Having no co-operative or retail outlet of their own, the 60-odd families of traditional handloom weavers of this village, were facing tough times. |
 The man of the village is none else than
98-year-old Jeona Khan, who does not miss an opportunity
to narrate his heroic deeds. His forefathers were among
the founders of the village who possibly named it
Sikandarpura because they were a proud people who
excelled in Lathi warfare. The deeds of Jeona Khan
alone can fill up a book. He tells the sorry tale of a
young weaver who installed the first and the last
powerloom of the village a few years ago on a loan from a
trader. And how the trader later ditched him, compelling
the poor man to give up the weaving profession for ever.Has not the government ever come forward with loan proposals and other incentives to promote their traditional occupation? Nay..Never. Most of the weavers are now straying into other occupations. In one household, I saw a buffalo tied in a corner where was once a handloom. Obviously one was sold to buy the other. It is not that these poor weavers will perish without government support. They are strong and sturdy enough to fend for themselves. The question is, what will happen to the traditional handloom culture of the village which has been its unique feature from ages? |
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