Mumbai: Normally associated with cricket, the Mumbai Cricket Association premises in Bandra was awash with handloom sarees at the launch of the Mumbai and Pune chapters of the ‘Six Yards and 365 Days’, a Facebook campaign to revive handloom sarees and help weavers.
Sunita Budhiraja, a communications professional for over 40 years, said, “We started this campaign on Facebook in 2015, inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India initiative, and took the social media path to connect with women who wear sarees. We are making efforts to support weavers and handloom sarees through the Facebook campaign. It’s amazing that what started with just four members, including myself, now has 23,000 members worldwide.”
Members come from different walks of life, including artistes and artists, authors, theatre persons, educationists, entrepreneurs, doctors, NGO workers, communication professionals, housewives and weavers who belong to underpaid, middle and low income groups, she said.
The Mumbai launch event saw Ms. Budhiraja draping her 600th handloom saree, and many others draping their 100th, 200th, and 300th. “We have members spread across the world, including in the US, Canada, UK, Middle East, Australia and neighbouring countries. Well-known Pakistani author Rumana Husain recently posted her photo on our group wearing her 100th handloom saree.” Bela Sanghvi, a Patan Patola saree revivalist, added, “For the last four decades, we are into revival of handlooms.”
The launch event was marked by a presentation on the journey of the handloom revival, a quiz and a ramp walk by women wearing Maharashtrian sarees.
“The younger generation, which was moving away from the handloom sarees, has now evinced keen interest, and many young women are part of the Facebook group,” Ms. Budhiraja said.
She added, “Because of the decrease in demand, our weavers have gone on to choose better paying avenues and moved to cities. I wore my first handloom saree in 1970. My mother and my grandmother wore only handloom sarees as my grandfather had looms in Lahore before moving to India during Partition. My mother wore sarees when she was in Delhi or Tokyo University teaching Hindi to Japanese students.”