“And we have to compete with China. But this way, we can say ‘you do volume, and we’ll produce the high-end stuff ’.” —Rta K Chishti
Agraduate of Lady Shri Ram College, Rta Kapur Chishti ran an informal crafts school for underprivileged children in the ’70s. Teaching herself about traditional crafts so she could teach the children, she got into weaving and textiles as a result, and subsequently became acquainted with Baba Gursharan Singh, a reclusive Old Delhi legend and a staunch Gandhian who taught young children of the Walled City to spin the khadi yarn. With such a grassroot introduction into the art of weaving, her interest in traditional textiles grew into a passion. Today, besides running The Sari School in New Delhi, she also produces saris under her labelTaanbaan, and is a champion of traditional weaving methods. She has also developed fabrics for designers, prominent among them Rajesh Pratap Singh, who interviews her on the relevance of India’s national drape, and what needs to be done to take saris and the way they are woven, into the future.
Rajesh Pratap Singh: Tell us a little about how you started your journey. Rta Kapur Chishti: I got into weaving because while in college in Delhi, I worked with underprivileged children and set up a small school in Patparganj. It was in a little village, and a lady called Meera Mahadevan, who was associated with Gandhi Smriti, gave me a twoacre plot there. At 6:00 A.M., before going to university, a couple of friends, including Madhu (journalist and author) and Naresh Trehan (prominent cardiovascular specialist), accompanied me to teach the children. We taught them arts and crafts. That was my introduction to working with my hands, to spinning and weaving. RPS: You have also written books on saris… RKC: In the ’80s, the Indian government funded a project to document the saris of each state. And young as I was, I took on the project along with Mapu (textiles expert Martand Singh), but we quickly realised that a job of this magnitude wouldn’t be easy. We began with Madhya Pradesh, and went to Bhopal first since it is the state capital, but as we began gathering research, it kept getting bigger and bigger. In the end, we limited the project to Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal. This research came out in volumes titled Saris of India in 2007, and another book, co-authored with Mapu called Saris: Tradition and Beyond came out in 2010, published by Roli Books. RPS: You also have your own label of saris. How did that happen?
RKC: To document them, we would need the saris to be photographed, and the weavers would spend months making them. But then, these samples wouldn’t get any money for the weavers. They would say “mera paet toh nahi bharega aapki kitab banne
se” (making individual, non-selling samples for your book won’t feed me). So we had to commission more saris. Taanbaan, was a result of that. The research was amazing. RPS: Isn’t textile R&D a disease? I mean, I’m addicted! RKC: Once you get into fabric, there’s no going back. But then, you know what your line can be, what cuts, what it can carry, what it can’t.
RPS: But if you’re churning out 14 collections a year, how deep can you go into textiles?
RKC: You can!We should be developing the hand sector as our greatest strength. In saris, I can play with 20-metre warps (lengthwise yarns of a weave), and I know which one is the best. I need 10 spinners for running one loom, another five for cultivation, combing: So 15 people can support one loom. So 1500 people for 100 looms, and we are the only country which can do it. If we do it now. In 10 years, the expertise will have been lost. And we have to compete with China. But this way, we can say “you do volume, and we’ll produce the high-end stuff”. RPS: How, in your opinion, should we promote hand-work? RKC: It needs a great plug. We are at a stage where everything is imitation. It began with export rejects finding legitimate outlets in local markets, and that shaped the fashion sensibilities of an entire generation. There are certain crafts from our country that are more valuable than what comes from outside, like indigo dyeing and hand-stitched clothing. We need to play this up. Today, what we need is to inform people.