The Hindu Business Line : Colour returns

Known for its superfine yarn with a silky feel, high count and fast colours, the fabric is now used to produce curtains, tablecloths, bed sheets and dress material.

V. Raju

Value addition: Nearly 25 per cent of the weavers in Mangalagiri, Andhra Pradesh, are women

Ambujam Anantharaman

Hit by the overall recession in Andhra Pradesh’s handloom sector, the weavers of Mangalagiri are taking initiatives to improve their lives. They are introducing embellishments of embroidery and prints — inspired by other specialised schools of weaving such as Pochampalli and Kalamkari — to the sari. They are also creating a new range of products from this superfine fabric.

A traditional Mangalagiri cotton sari is characterised by a plain body with contrasting zari border. However, by incorporating motifs of elephants, parrots, and even dancing women in Kalamkari style, and those quintessential to Pochampalli, these talented Mangalagiri artisans are breathing new life into their dying craft. (Kalamkari is a method of painting natural dyes on cotton or silk fabric using a bamboo pen; Pochampalli silk saris are hand-woven and multi-coloured, with distinctive, geometric borders.)

New products, rising sales

Buyers, especially tourists, can shop for the fabric in the town itself.

Interestingly, the innovations are not restricted to embellishments alone. The weavers are now using their fabric — known for its superfine yarn with a silky feel, high count and fast colours — to produce curtains, tablecloths, bed sheets and dress material. Among these innovations are readymade cotton shirts and kurtas for men at prices as low as Rs 200 a shirt.

Kamala Kandru, 40, one of the few women in Mangalagiri who is a master weaver as well as an entrepreneur, says, “In the past, handloom material was worn mainly by older people. A notion prevailed that it suited only the people of this age group. The trend has changed. The younger generation nowadays feels that wearing handlooms is fashionable. This belief has been strengthened by the introduction of trendy designs and prints.” The recession in the handloom industry, which forced thousands of master weavers to abandon their looms and move to other professions, is now being overcome.

Sales are steadily increasing, running into crores of rupees, adds Kamala. Mangalagiri has a population of around 80,000, of which about 50 per cent originally depended on the handloom industry for their livelihood directly and indirectly. Govardhan Rao, author of Mana Mangalagiri (Our Mangalagiri) and a member of the Town Development Council, says that over 15,000 of these weavers migrated to neighbouring areas, such as Vijayawada, and took up new professions. Even those who opted to stay took to a new trade. Only around 10,000 weavers stuck to their traditional means of livelihood. There are about 100 master weavers, while the rest are employees or family members of master weavers and participating in the vocation at various levels.

(A master weaver owns looms, sheds and other equipment, and he/she employs weavers who are either paid wages or are part of the master weaver’s family. The master weaver markets the fabric and finished goods, such as saris, after production.)

Important role for women

Most significant and unique to Mangalagiri is the fact that 25 per cent of the weavers are women. The women work in the yarn warping and reeling process. In the families of master weavers, women take on the responsibility of the business management. The men go from place to place, supplying finished products and collecting payments. In other words, the women look after the supply of raw material to the workers, supervise quality control, take delivery of the finished product and pay the wages. This method of work, supply and dues-collection eliminates middlemen.

Sales also happen when tourists visiting the town’s famous Narasimha temple shop for the fabric. They buy a sari or two right from the wholesalers’ home-cum-shop. Prices range between Rs 500 and Rs 1,500. Kamala, a former municipal chairperson of the town, explains the painstaking manufacturing process of Mangalagiri fabric: The raw material (white yarn) is procured within the town and from Hindupur, Anantapur, Guntur and other places. Dyes are sourced from Gujarat and the yarn is coloured at local units.

The yarn is then warped and starched to give it strength. Incidentally, this process is unique to the handloom weave as against that of the power looms. According to Kamala, the distinguishing feature of Mangalagiri handloom is the amount of yarn woven into fabric, per loom. On an average, it takes about a week to 10 days to weave four saris on a loom. Ganji Ravindranath, 46, a prominent master weaver, reiterates that it is the quality of yarn that distinguishes Mangalagiri cotton from other handlooms.

He mentions a shop in Paris called Centre of Indian Goods where Mangalagiri fabric is sold by its name. The French find the soft material ideal for use as underskirts and slips, and also for interior decoration, he says. The handloom is also popular in the Gulf countries, Italy and in the US.

Protecting weaver interests

Talking about the problems faced by the weavers, Ravindranath says they stem from the competition posed by mill cloth, insufficient demand due to high production costs and government apathy. However, though the handloom weavers’ wages are not high, they are in a better position than their power-loom counterparts with regard to the quantum of work. Weavers’ suicides have occurred among the power-loom weavers, he points out.

However, Ravindranath does call for social security for the weavers and greater attention to their health needs. Early marriages are common in weavers’ families, leading to early childbirths and poor health among the women. This especially impacts the community as the women perform 90 per cent of the tasks related to fabric-making. Srinivasa Raju, 47, another master weaver, says Mangalagiri mainly has pit looms. Weavers sit in the pits while weaving. During the rainy season water enters the pits, bringing work to a standstill. Come peak summer, the dry weather is not conducive for making quality cloth. Summer sees many weavers fall ill and work slows down, forcing the weavers to take loans. This pushes them into a debt trap.

The weavers earn a meagre Rs 50-60 per day, which could rise to Rs 100 if the design is complicated. Asked what the government is doing to alleviate their problems, Raju says several benefits have been extended to cooperative societies of handloom weavers. But the trouble is that many of these societies are unscrupulous. On the brighter side, weavers have been sanctioned old-age pensions and provided group insurance and medical cards. As municipal chairperson during 2000-05, Kamala had worked to see that pensions reached the weavers. She also organised medical camps and oversaw construction of roads and drains. With her brother-in-law holding the position now, the good work continues. Special attention is also being given to provide relief during the off-season. There is now a feeling of confidence in Mangalagiri — that the bad times are over and that the future is safe in the hands of the weavers.

Women’s Feature Service

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