Swasti Singh explains how embroidery is transforming the lives of Indian women
The article first appeared in Quilter’s Review, 32, Winter 2001, UK
In the arid regions of Gujarat and Rajasthan in western India there is a wide diversity of embroidery traditions. This is related to the ethnic differences of the population and the region’s strategic location at the cross roads of the great trade routes to the Arabian peninsula. Embroidery here is referred to as bharat, literally meaning ‘to fill’. It has traditionally enjoyed the status of hobby or pastime for wom
en as a coveted and precious display in the dowry package. Groups such as Rabaris, Ahirs, Rajputs, Meghwals / Harijan, Mutwas have rich and diversified embroidery traditions, though many of these groups have a marginal status in the rigid caste based society. This article will explain how embroidery has developed from a leisure activity destined for the dowry into a positive livelihood option, with the help of various Government and Non-Government agencies (NGOs). In the process the self confidence of the women has improved and their status increased.
This process has to be set against the reality of life in these desert and semi-desert areas. The persistent droughts of the last three years and the earthquake in Bhuj in 2001 have been testing times, in particular. The desert and its fringes bear a fragile eco-system, which have lately suffered from the pressures of the growing population and exploitative government policies. Traditionally, some form of semi nomadic animal husbandry has been the most popular livelihood. Many communities are at various stages of adopting to a more settled lifestyle, but drought conditions make it impossible to rely on agriculture which depends on rainfall. The men are thus mostly unemployed. Marginal groups, including the women, often migrate seasonally away from their homes looking for labour. In these grim conditions, embroidery emerges as one of the most promising livelihood options, especially for the poor.
This has been helped by a growing market for handicrafts and ethnic items, nationally and internationally. The ‘hippie culture’ from the west has been particularly influential. In India itself, the emerging second generation middle class is looking to it roots and has initiated a wave of revival of all that is ‘traditional’.
In the 1970s, following the 1971 Indo-Pak war there was a mass exodus of people from Pakistan to Kutch and Barmer and Jaisalmer in western Rajasthan. This settlement of the Pak Osutees contributed to a dissemination of embroidery traditions among the local population. However, opportunists cashed in on the destitute situation of the refugees by buying their embroidered articles in distress sales and then selling them in cities for much higher profits. Market practices led to the formulation of this practice as ‘trade’. Production centres spread laterally to the nook and corners of the interiors of Thar to cater to this rising demand. The lack of any other promising source of income, the insecurity of settling into a new region, the pressures of raising a large family, the chronic unemployment of all the men led the women to succumb to the exploitative offers of the middlemen.
The middlemen were members of local communities who graduated to the status of big traders. The wages of women however remained the same year after year. They were merely casual wage labourers. They had to work all day and by lamplight in the night to earn the bare minimum for their households. Often they had to put up with payments in kind from the middlemen’s grocery shop in the village. Working conditions were so poor that very soon bharat became known as dukhi bharat, embroidery impregnated with sorrow. Though the women, and the men too, were aware of the exploitative nature of the trade, they never tried to demand more for the fear of loosing this only means of livelihood. A major portion of Kutch in Gujarat and Barmer, Jaisalmer and Bikaner in Raja
sthan were active grass root centres of this chain of mass production.
Mass production meant that everything from raw materials to design motifs was decided for the craftswomen, reducing their status from a creator to a mere producer of labour intensive embroidery. This had a devastating effect on traditional embroidery skills. Often the quakity of raw materials used to be poor- untwisted silk floss and mirror instead of glass. Embroidery patterns were crudely printed. A selected few designs were used repeatedly and quality work was not appreciated. The women did mange to continue thewir own traditional embroidery, but at a mucxh lower scale and intensity.
The intervention of different NGOs like SEWA, URMUL, SURE, Kalarakasa aimed to improve their lives and status of women in these areas. Some also addressed the basic issues of health, education and others sought to initiate a process of social empowerment through bharat. The aim was to lift the status of craftswomen from casual wage labourers to dignified artisans. The middlemen had been interested in the ‘traditionally’ embroidered product. In contrast to that the NGOs focused on the lives of woen with traditional skills. Their income generation programmes set out to preserve and continue locals craft traditions and maximize the wages of women allowing them to be creators rather than being mere producers. Women were facilitated to form groups as independent entrepreneurs. Through this enhanced ability at income generation the owmen also were regarded with more dignity, they felt socially empowered.
The NGOs earned the trust of local people by aiming to improve their quality of life, rather than making money out of them. They seek to promote self sufficiency, beginning with intensive training to improve skills and help them understand the quality required by the market. Groups are taught to save money and they can access capital loans at minimal interest rates to initiate and mange their own production. The NGOs assist with design and marketing and encourage women to make their own design and finance decisions. They are invited to directly participate in lot of exhibitions in different cities in India and even abroad. This gives them a better idea of the market, and of consumer tastes and lifestyle.
The NGOs aim to achieve a balance between the market driven strategy of a business initiative and the free expression of a women embroiderer. They have largely succeeded in upgrading skills, improving quality and workmanship and keeping production closer to tradition. The women have the self confidence to realize their worth as contributors to their family incomes and as bearers of a rich embroidery tradition. Faith in their won tradition has gro
wn deeper.
The NGOs plan to phase out in 8-10 years, by which time it is hoped that the women group is self sufficient. Some have achieved this. However, continued success depends up in keeping up with changing conditions. Some NGOs have been sluggish in adapting to fast changing market trends, leading to large quantities of dump stocks and the continued for outside funds for support. May be the system need a restructuring to cope with the new challenges of a liberalized market environment.
The article first appeared in Quilter’s Review, 32, Winter 2001, UK
In the arid regions of Gujarat and Rajasthan in western India there is a wide diversity of embroidery traditions. This is related to the ethnic differences of the population and the region’s strategic location at the cross roads of the great trade routes to the Arabian peninsula. Embroidery here is referred to as bharat, literally meaning ‘to fill’. It has traditionally enjoyed the status of hobby or pastime for wom
en as a coveted and precious display in the dowry package. Groups such as Rabaris, Ahirs, Rajputs, Meghwals / Harijan, Mutwas have rich and diversified embroidery traditions, though many of these groups have a marginal status in the rigid caste based society. This article will explain how embroidery has developed from a leisure activity destined for the dowry into a positive livelihood option, with the help of various Government and Non-Government agencies (NGOs). In the process the self confidence of the women has improved and their status increased.
This process has to be set against the reality of life in these desert and semi-desert areas. The persistent droughts of the last three years and the earthquake in Bhuj in 2001 have been testing times, in particular. The desert and its fringes bear a fragile eco-system, which have lately suffered from the pressures of the growing population and exploitative government policies. Traditionally, some form of semi nomadic animal husbandry has been the most popular livelihood. Many communities are at various stages of adopting to a more settled lifestyle, but drought conditions make it impossible to rely on agriculture which depends on rainfall. The men are thus mostly unemployed. Marginal groups, including the women, often migrate seasonally away from their homes looking for labour. In these grim conditions, embroidery emerges as one of the most promising livelihood options, especially for the poor.
This has been helped by a growing market for handicrafts and ethnic items, nationally and internationally. The ‘hippie culture’ from the west has been particularly influential. In India itself, the emerging second generation middle class is looking to it roots and has initiated a wave of revival of all that is ‘traditional’.
In the 1970s, following the 1971 Indo-Pak war there was a mass exodus of people from Pakistan to Kutch and Barmer and Jaisalmer in western Rajasthan. This settlement of the Pak Osutees contributed to a dissemination of embroidery traditions among the local population. However, opportunists cashed in on the destitute situation of the refugees by buying their embroidered articles in distress sales and then selling them in cities for much higher profits. Market practices led to the formulation of this practice as ‘trade’. Production centres spread laterally to the nook and corners of the interiors of Thar to cater to this rising demand. The lack of any other promising source of income, the insecurity of settling into a new region, the pressures of raising a large family, the chronic unemployment of all the men led the women to succumb to the exploitative offers of the middlemen.
The middlemen were members of local communities who graduated to the status of big traders. The wages of women however remained the same year after year. They were merely casual wage labourers. They had to work all day and by lamplight in the night to earn the bare minimum for their households. Often they had to put up with payments in kind from the middlemen’s grocery shop in the village. Working conditions were so poor that very soon bharat became known as dukhi bharat, embroidery impregnated with sorrow. Though the women, and the men too, were aware of the exploitative nature of the trade, they never tried to demand more for the fear of loosing this only means of livelihood. A major portion of Kutch in Gujarat and Barmer, Jaisalmer and Bikaner in Raja
sthan were active grass root centres of this chain of mass production.
Mass production meant that everything from raw materials to design motifs was decided for the craftswomen, reducing their status from a creator to a mere producer of labour intensive embroidery. This had a devastating effect on traditional embroidery skills. Often the quakity of raw materials used to be poor- untwisted silk floss and mirror instead of glass. Embroidery patterns were crudely printed. A selected few designs were used repeatedly and quality work was not appreciated. The women did mange to continue thewir own traditional embroidery, but at a mucxh lower scale and intensity.
The intervention of different NGOs like SEWA, URMUL, SURE, Kalarakasa aimed to improve their lives and status of women in these areas. Some also addressed the basic issues of health, education and others sought to initiate a process of social empowerment through bharat. The aim was to lift the status of craftswomen from casual wage labourers to dignified artisans. The middlemen had been interested in the ‘traditionally’ embroidered product. In contrast to that the NGOs focused on the lives of woen with traditional skills. Their income generation programmes set out to preserve and continue locals craft traditions and maximize the wages of women allowing them to be creators rather than being mere producers. Women were facilitated to form groups as independent entrepreneurs. Through this enhanced ability at income generation the owmen also were regarded with more dignity, they felt socially empowered.
The NGOs earned the trust of local people by aiming to improve their quality of life, rather than making money out of them. They seek to promote self sufficiency, beginning with intensive training to improve skills and help them understand the quality required by the market. Groups are taught to save money and they can access capital loans at minimal interest rates to initiate and mange their own production. The NGOs assist with design and marketing and encourage women to make their own design and finance decisions. They are invited to directly participate in lot of exhibitions in different cities in India and even abroad. This gives them a better idea of the market, and of consumer tastes and lifestyle.
The NGOs aim to achieve a balance between the market driven strategy of a business initiative and the free expression of a women embroiderer. They have largely succeeded in upgrading skills, improving quality and workmanship and keeping production closer to tradition. The women have the self confidence to realize their worth as contributors to their family incomes and as bearers of a rich embroidery tradition. Faith in their won tradition has gro
wn deeper.
The NGOs plan to phase out in 8-10 years, by which time it is hoped that the women group is self sufficient. Some have achieved this. However, continued success depends up in keeping up with changing conditions. Some NGOs have been sluggish in adapting to fast changing market trends, leading to large quantities of dump stocks and the continued for outside funds for support. May be the system need a restructuring to cope with the new challenges of a liberalized market environment.
No comments:
Post a Comment