Death knell for handlooms?
Sabita Radhakrishna

Changing lifestyles and market structures mean that weaving is not a viable profession anymore. What’s the way out?

Hand-woven fabric is the product of Indian tradition, the inspiration of the cultural ethos of the weavers. With its strong product identity, handlooms represent the diversity of each State and proclaim the artistry of the weaver. It is not thread al one but the weaver’s imagery, faith and dream that create heritage fabrics which have undoubtedly placed India on the world map. Handlooms rank second only to agriculture as an industry. The handloom sector boasts of 3.4 million weavers according to a census conducted by The National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) in the year 1995-96 whereas in 1987-88 it was 4.3 million and the drop of nearly a million is all too significant and in the present scenario rather bleak.

The Kancheepuram sari with its korvai designs may become a museum piece sooner than we think, so also the cotton korvai saris, with the weavers disinterested in weaving them. A cotton sari fetches the weaver Rs. 270 per sari as against Rs. 2,500 for a silk sari. A master weaver in Kancheepuram quotes the example of an MNC which sends buses to pick up young adults who are the children of the weavers. Even if it is an unskilled labourer’s job, he can pick up around Rs. 250-300 a day and what’s more, there is “prestige” attached to a factory job! What’s worse is that our Southern traditional weaves are being pirated through importing weavers from Tamil Nadu. For most handloom weavers it means sitting at a loom for 12 hours at a stretch and even longer if it is festival or wedding season. Many of those interviewed swear that they will not subject their children to work in a profession which drains them. Most of them develop orthopaedic problems and then it is too late to move to other professions when they are past the prime of life.

THE HINDU, 2007, To read the rest of this article click here.

Theatre is her life
Sabita Radhakrishna

The Museum Theatre is packed. There's not an empty seat in sight. Outside, there is a hysterical clamour for tickets. End of play and the applause is deafening. The play is Five Point Someone, scripted and directed by 26-year-old Nikhila Kesavan, and based on the bestseller of the same name by Chetan Bhagat. Five Point Someone broke all records when it ran to full house during all 1l shows in Chennai and in the ten shows staged in Bangalore, Kolkatta, Hyderabad and else were. The play brought out powerfully the emotions and frustrations of student life in IIT, as seen through the eyes of three young student. This was Nikila's first major directorial venture of a full-scale production.

"Am I really a playwright?" She looks incredulous. "I don't write my own script...I read a story and if it is interesting enough and workable, I draft it into a play. I am a director, yes, but playwright?" she asks with a refreshing air of condour and modesty. Her directorial debut began with A Temporary Matter from Jhumpa Lahiri's Pulitzer Prize winning book Interpreter of Maladies.

It was NATAK, a theatre programme conceptualised by Krishna Kumar, a theatre personality, which put young Nikila in the spotlight. NATAK was an inter-cllegiate theatre festival that provided a platform for students to showcase their theatrical talents. The entire infrastructure was provided by NATAK, on condition that each student group presented its play in its entirety, including design of sets, lighting and sound. "It was a creative effort and we were given this fantastic opportunity. It was a phenoneal experiment which gave us tremendous exposure to the general public. Every aspect of the play was explored and we were responsible for the complete staging of the play without having to spend money. NATAK arranged for a panel of prominent theatre personalities in Chennai to judge the plays." says Nikila.

EvesTouch, 2008.

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