A year ago, when I was doing the book on Tiruvannamalai, I met weavers from Aarani, a place famous for silk. The chief weaver's wife proudly told us that her children were studying for engineering. Most of the next generation is now moving away from weaving. Who will carry the tradition forward, I asked. "Those who can't study, will," she said smiling.
I have heard of the Kanchipuram weavers struggling but never given it much thought.
In a recent interview with a leading textile shop owner, he mentioned a few things. The art of making Madurai sungudi is completely lost. "Earlier, women would do the tie and die during leisure time. But now, with TV taking up all that time, no one has the time to spend on this. Now what you find is only block prints."
He mentioned that the present day weavers could not produce very fine cotton weaves. Then he leaned forward and said confidentially, "Education for children is important. But in earlier days, the entire family would be involved in weaving. The children would learn from their fathers from a young age, helping them with small jobs then graduating to bigger ones. It was a way to build knowledge base and learn the nuances of the weaving skill. Today, that is getting lost."
It set me thinking. And then, another conversation with another weaver, and I am really wondering. This man has been weaving for the last 30 years. He says, "The government does not support weaving the way it does agriculture. As a result, we earn very less, and pay very high interest rates. We are unable to innovate or improve our equipment and techniques. People left this trade in the 90s and now don't want to come back because they earn better in the construction industries. Those who remained are those who know no other skills."
I remember another man I spoke to, who had pointed out that slums get created when local industries fail and people migrate to cities hoping to find livelihoods. Mr. Kughanathan of Geocare, who said this, has tried to identify local resources to provide alternative livelihoods in their own native villages.
My two bits on this. Basic education is important. But again, does one size fit all? Are all the engineers productively occupied today? Is it necessary to provide fodder to the engineering and professional colleges by making traditional industries look unattractive and old fashioned? If they are given access to the same facilities and standard of living, will they look out for other professions? Isn't dignity of labour to be valued? Isn't it important to make rural areas as attractive as the cities to live in?
Or, is it asking for too much?
