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Giving handloom a fillip at IITB’s Mood Indigo

              

Travelling through bumper-to-bumper traffic on the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli
Link Road (JVLR), I breathed a sigh of relief on reaching the IIT-B maingate.

Since my college days, I had seen some of my friends being
excited about Mood Indigo (Mood I), IIT- Bombay’s annual cultural extravaganza.
I had an opportunity today to take a closer look at the fest myself.

Going through the colourful brochure displaying the events
planned for the day, I decided to visit a fashion show “She’s Got The Look”. Just
outside the venue,  at one of the many kiosks
linned-up, I noticed a man in his 50s,  engrossed in weaving a fabric with the help of
a Loom. Realizing that he had someone’s attention, he introduced himself, “My
name is M.S Katve.” Sensing my inquisitiveness about his craft, Mr.Katve
narrated his story to me.

Belonging to a family of weavers, Mr Katve had been introduced
to the craft early in life. “Being the eldest in a family of eight and due to
our poor economic condition, I wanted to take up a government job. But destiny
had some other plans.”  Mr. Katve has
been weaving fabrics for the last 33 years. Pointing at one of the beautiful
sarees with intricate design put on display Mr. Katve said “This takes one
month to weave.”  As part of Government
of India’s initiative to encourage the handloom sector as a profession, Mr.
Katve and his small team has been conducting workshop for the young at various
places in Maharashtra for some years now. He is all praise for children at one such
workshop conducted in Nashik recently. “It is heartening to see children
weaving cloth so beautifully. My worries about the future of this craft have
been taken care of.”

About initiatives in handloom industry to meet global demands,
Mr. Katve said, “We have trained artisans to be abreast about new trends in the
world of fashion. They use Computer-aided designs to innovate their products.”  Readers may recall that on October 2, this
year, Khadi Jeans were launched by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission
(KVIC).

While formulating policies for the handloom sector, Governments
at centre and states have always had to deal with the dilemma of promoting
Powerlooms and Handlooms, at the cost of each other. About powerlooms, Mr.
Katve was of the opinion that though powerlooms help in mass production it is
done at the cost of quality and craft. To aid the handloom sector, many
restrictions have been placed on the method of production making them viable
both, for the consumer and the weaver.

“This craft has given me immense satisfaction. Though I was
concerned about the future, I am proud of being able to do my bit to conserve
our heritage and pass on the knowledge to the next generation.”

A crowd had gathered around us by this time, with everyone
chipping in with their experiences. It was lovely to see a rather ‘mundane’ issue
of handlooms elicit such interest. Festivals like Mood I definitely provide a
platform for skills otherwise less talked about in urban settings. I returned
more enriched than ever. Thank you Mood I !

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