The art of deduction

A piece of textile can be like a wearable biography. Especially in Indian culture. The class, the ideals, marital status, it tells you everything. Carl’s detailed lecture about the carpets in paintings and their symbolism is the perfect alibi. The silk trade, unknowingly, was facilitating trade of most precious treasures, cultures. And the motifs and patterns on these carpet paintings that were probably inspired from the carpets the artists’ saw, were the only means to track this virtual barter.

 It reminds me of the art of deduction that Sherlock holmes used to solve cases. What the outside world doesn’t know is that us Indians are pros at this art. Our cultures have prescribed certain clothes for certain kinds of people.  And it has been dinned into us to read these clothes, as if they were traffic signals, designed to help us drive our lives on the right paths.

This is exactly what Griff Rhys Jones’ quest was about. It all started with the reading of a cloth kept in Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire for over 300 years. This led to him travel to Gujarat and make a film called Hidden treasures of Indian Art.

He called Gujarat the Manchester of India. Talked about the beautiful ari embroidery and its idiosyncratic quality of not being done with a needle and that that it is done by cobblers.

What was interesting to note was that there is an explanation to every cloth that was made. The colors, the motifs, the material used. A particular set of designs was reserved for the unmarried girls and some for the married. The widows had a completely different set of clothes. They were ruthlessly branded. Among the Rabari tribe women, embroidery was a vital source of livelihood. They spend a lifetime embroidering wedding trousseaus, which is symbolic of their creativity, aesthetics and even a form of dowry sometimes. They have a particular time, dedicated in each day, meant only and only for embroidery. However, since it demands such meticulous work and time, and does not pay much, this art is now dying.

Unfortunate, but sounds like a recurring theme in all the talks we have had in this class. There is a desperate need for patronizing and encouragement.  This is what has attracted the world. It is our most beloved treasure. If mr. Griff can see it, why can’t we?

Another thing that bothers me is the segregation system. It is the most unnecessary ornamentation. Rather the only form, which I am whole-heartedly against. This kind of segregation can also be seen in one of the very popular sitcoms called Balika Vadhu. The widowed maa-sa wears a completely different color palette, motifs and jewelry compared to the married women of the house. The movie Dor, also paints the transformation of life and look of the daughter-in-law of the family before and after the death of her husband. It looks as if all this is done so the entire world knows that she is a widow. She is literally treated like a commodity. And thanks to the clothes she is made to wear, the world knows that they must treat her so.

The married women wear the blouse pleated at the breast. The older women and widows wear plain black with no embroidery.  The outer layer of the dress is a long woolen shawl.  Un married women wear white while the married and the elderly wear brown or black. A young married woman wears a shawl adorned with deep red circular designs, made by the tie-and-dye method. 

The widow's shawl is plain black.  In some regions, Rabari women embellish their shawls with applique work or embroider the centre seam along with mirrors.

It is high time we gouge out the unwanted layers of meanings and let it stay till appreciating the beauty of the art, the only good thing that this system has given us.