The Immortal Handloom - a Chowdhrain perspective

Namaste 🙏

I am an immortal handloom currently living with a weaver in India. I originally belong to the grandfather of the person who uses me today. He indeed was a nice man but unfortunately, I couldn’t support his family as much as I wanted to. Though I don’t entirely blame myself. Perhaps, it was the British that led to the downfall of my industry or maybe the introduction of power looms; whatever may be the reason, people surely are forgetting me and I don’t appreciate it at all. After all, I am the oldest and the most efficient of the lot. I don’t know why people treat me and my family members like this? Talking about my family, do you know how big my family is? I have a family of  26, 73,891 weavers who are spread across all over India. I talk to my family members almost every day, I know so many of them and their forefathers too. Astonishingly, every time I talk to them mostly all of them share tales of their poverty, and honestly, whenever I hear something like that, I feel incompetent and helpless. A few days back, my companion and my best friend, yarn,  told me an incident where one of our weavers had attempted suicide because he couldn’t repay a loan of  ₹16 lakhs that he had taken to buy some raw materials. I have heard many such cases before and then I realise how tough survival must be. The other day, another colleague of mine told me that almost 67% of my family members earn less than ₹5000/ month and with the inflation levels surging each year, their survival is getting difficult every moment. Though some of them are also doing well in life the majority is still suffering. With such a situation, I often get perplexed and sad but at the same time, it gives me immense satisfaction and strength when I see various organisations such as the Craft Council Of India, Chitrika Foundation, and Women Weave charitable trust.

I am also glad to be a member of the Chowdhrain family, a brand that emphasis promoting the culture of our nation through its wide range of variety in Sarees and Dupattas. The brand is currently working with clusters of diligent weavers from the interiors of our nation, trying to re-emphasize the ‘Desi Indian Wear’ along with the Gen-Z elements. I feel so delighted when I hear about such efforts being made all across India and the government promoting and helping my family.

The sense of satisfaction that the love and affection of others’ gives is worth a lifetime. Thus, with each and every time that someone has ever cherished or appreciated my usefulness, I have experienced immense happiness and the best part is, even after so many problems, people still believe in me and my products; this is the sole reason behind me calling myself “ The Immortal Handloom.”

 

References :

https://www.vogue.in/fashion/content/3-experts-on-what-the-indian-handloom-industry-needs-right-now#:~:text=%E2%80%9CHandlooms%20have%20been%20on%20a,ve%20lost%208%2C00%2C000%20weavers

https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/social-entrepreneurs-ngos-and-collectives-who-come-together-with-innovative-solutions-for-weavers-finding-them-markets-online/article35780156.ece

https://www.craftscouncilofindia.in/