Indian Elegance

Filled with mind boggling creativity, the Indian subcontinent is overflowing with hand worked embellishments. Whether it is on fabric or metal, stone or wood, jewelry or leather, it is all waiting to be discovered and exposed to the world outside. And that, itself is an encouragement our crafts people need and seek. Some acknowledgement and reasonable monetary compensation will definitely work towards enhancing their self esteem.
When the family had been fed and the morning chores complete, women in Indian joint families sat together, chatting, gossiping, bonding. Their busy hands held yards of fabric that they worked beautiful designs on using colorful threads, mirrors, beads� whatever they could find, some times even recycling what would have ordinarily have been thrown away. Stitch by single stitch the work came together in one elegant, stylish piece of hand crafted beauty.

Children begin working on small scraps of fabric almost as soon as they can feed themselves. Doing such fine work is demanding. But it is a great way to improve eye-hand coordination, a grand-mother explains as she guides her little four-year-old grand-daughter through an easy design. What she does not mention is that this also develops concentration.

So distinctive is Indian embroidery that an expert?s eye can spot the region where it has originated from. Each area has its own typical style of needlework. Very little of it was machine done during those days when television was not even a figment in the distant future. Besides, working on a machine would offer little bonding and would make too much noise, effectively cutting off all meaningful conversation. The true beauty of a piece emerged only after gossip was shared, and bottled up emotions expressed.

The mirror work and Kutchi stitch came from a desert region in Gujarat called Kutch. In these parts water is very scarce. Throny shrubs form the only vegetation one sees for miles together amidst those hot, dusty sand dunes. Still, the landscape is colorful. For the women here dress brightly. Coarse, hand spun cotton or wool yards of them are made into circular voluminous skirts and teamed with the brightest most vibrant cholis?. Sensuous in style, the cholis are backless, tied together with strings. The fronts of these blouses are most intricately embroidered. Mirrors are a must. Other additions include tiny beads, and yes, the famous Kutchi embroidery. Changing times have not yet touched the women of this desert at least not too much, and synthetic fabric is still viewed with some suspicion. (Crazy Quilts on indianselections.com are a live example of this art form). Incidentally, different communities are identified by the colors and the styles of their dress.

Further north, in the terrain which is world famous, raved and bitterly fought over, art still thrives. The Kashmiris are experts in needle work and adorn silks, wool and cotton alike. This land, so filled with natural beauty is superbly complimented by the work that comes from its cottage industry. Home to the famous Pashmina shawls, the embroidery from this part of India is intricate, and most often than not done using silken threads.

Almost all fabric is decorated with hand work. While the conventional needle and threads are used for fine work, the crochet hook style ari? mounted on a wooden stem, is employed for the typical chain? stitch work. It is faster to complete as larger areas can be covered in relatively less time and costs far less than the needle work does.

Most often than not, the curtains, rugs, bed covers and table linen are embellished using this method. The tautly stretched fabric is mounted on large frames, and sometimes even four people are seen bent over in quiet concentration as they meticulously create pieces of fabric art. (Shawls on indianselections.com have some interestingly intricate and ethnic shawls straight from this land of valleys and snow capped peaks, bubbling brooks, apple trees and crisp, saffron tinged air.)

Bengal, the land of poetry and culture is also a land that nurtures art in any form. Here, the bold human and animal designs are used while the embroidery is simple. Called Kantha, there is no rocket science to doing this style of embroidery. All one needs is a needle, threads and a design to follow. The stitch used most is the basic tacking?, except that it has to be small and is done with a single strand of thread. Finer Kantha work lies flat on the fabric, almost seeming like it has been printed or painted on. Yes, it is time consuming and laborious, but in India, this sort of loving labour is never finished off in a tearing hurry. Nobody is meeting deadlines here. Perfection is of utmost importance.

Talking of perfection, reminds me of the work done on Nawabi attire. Ah, the elegance, the breathtaking beauty subtle and soothing during the day, bright and exotic for the night. Those rulers knew the nuances of dressing. It was almost a religion for them. Light pastel gauze like cottons embellished with the most delicate shadow work was reserved for those hot, dry summer days. Cool evenings, heavy with romantic fragrances from the Mogra (jasmine), held the promise of Mujra (dance), music and wine. For such evenings, the Nawab dressed in heavy silks, decorated in three dimensional, shimmering gold and silver designs called Zardozi. Mostly floral their beauty was enhanced with heavy matching jewelry.

Filled with mind boggling creativity, the Indian subcontinent is overflowing with hand worked embellishments. Whether it is on fabric or metal, stone or wood, jewelry or leather, it is all waiting to be discovered and exposed to the world outside. And that, itself is an encouragement our crafts people need and seek. Some acknowledgement and reasonable monetary compensation will definitely work towards enhancing their self esteem.

Ameeta Agnihotri.
Indian Selections Press Bureau
http://www.indianselections.com
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