The Hindu Business Line : Towering dream colours of life

Usha Sridhar, a homemaker, decided she wanted to enter the Guinness Book of World Records by doing something unique but didn’t know where to start. A friend suggested that Usha could, along with other women, attempt a record-setting cross-stitch design of the Srirangam ‘Rajagopuram’, Asia’s tallest temple tower, located in Tiruchi district.

Usha then formed the Trichy Innovative Ladies United Needlework Association (Tiluna) in 1998 and the group of women began to cross-stitch 3,000 identical matte canvases, each bearing the Rajagopuram design. The pieces when completed and stitched together would stretch to 25,000 sq ft.

But why the Rajagopuram? “I hail from Tiruchi. This project will help put this historical city on the world map,” beams Usha.

The path though has not been easy. Tiluna began with just five like-minded women, who slogged to get corporate funding for this Rs 30-lakh project. “Initially we organised a jumble sale of home accessories and collected donations to commence the work. We got a blueprint of the structure from the stapathy (sculptor) to ensure there was no deviation from the original design.”

The blueprint was screen-printed on a one-metre matte cloth. “It was around this time that Madura Coats offered to sponsor the plain material. The material expenditure was estimated at Rs 2 lakh. Coats also offered to supply t he thread at cost price. We estimated the thread cost at Rs 12 lakh,” says Usha.

Soon Pony Needles also chipped in and supplied 60,000 needles free. Tiluna’s initiative gained momentum. “Volunteers from Mount Abu, Lucknow, Dehradun, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Ernakulam, Coimbatore, Tiruchi and Sri Lanka expressed keenness to take part in this endeavour. We have so far couriered close to 1,550 canvases, along with needle and thread, to volunteers,” she says.

The bigger challenge, she says, “is in getting back” the material from the volunteers after successful completion of the cross-stitch design. On average, it takes about two-and-a-half months to complete the canvas if the volunteer spends about two hours on it every day, said a Tiluna committee member.

Tiluna has got back 1,080 completed pieces. There have also been some rejects and some incomplete pieces. The project has attracted male volunteers too. An octogenarian in Madurai has completed four pieces, Usha says and points out that the highest contribution came from a women called Lakshmibai, who completed 35 pieces, followed by Usha’s mother Vitalabai, now aged 83, with 25 pieces. “She still does the outline,” adds Usha.

Tiluna members have meanwhile displayed the completed pieces at Tiruchi’s Kaveri College. “We would in all probability enter the Limca Book of Records,” Usha says.

So, is she excited about the outcome? “Definitely, but we still have a long way to go,” she replies, adding that they were finding it difficult to source the material on time. Tiluna eventually plans to sell the canvases and use the proceeds to establish a rehabilitation centre for the mentally challenged.