Seated on the thinnai of his home at Musiri, senior weaver Ganapathi stares into a distance, deep in thought. He wears a bright checked lungi he wove himself and nearby, sits a small stack of checked saris, fresh off his loom. The 75-year-old, who has been weaving ever since he can remember, designed the saris himself — from the colour combinations to the width of the checks — and wove each one over three days on his loom at home during lockdown.
“Thatha wove the saris using leftover threads from the paavu (hank) I gave him,” says C Sivagurunathan, who started Nurpu, an initiative to revive the handloom tradition of weaving clusters in and around Erode. Sivaguru, who markets handwoven clothes on his website, has been working with Ganapathi for the past couple of years.
“He weaves dhotis and saris for me,” explains the 34-year-old, adding that the kind Ganapathi weaves are called ‘Thapettai’ dhotis, named after the weaving cluster they come from. “These are the eight-yard veshtis MGR wore during his time,” he adds.
Nurpu’s saris by Ganapathi | Photo Credit: Special arrangement
During lockdown, orders dwindled and his loom went silent; but Ganapathi could not sit idle. He put together leftover threads and started weaving. The result was a range of checked saris in combinations that feature shades of peacock blue and sunshine yellow. When Sivaguru met him, all he could do was smile at the old man’s commitment to his loom.
“I travelled to his hometown when restrictions were eased,” says Sivaguru, adding with a laugh, “He had actually tied one of the saris as a lungi. When I asked him about it, he said there were no rules to what one can do with a piece of cloth.”
Sivaguru, in fact, planned on tailoring the saris into paavadai (long skirts) and tops for little girls. “They are of fine cotton, and I thought children might find it comfortable on their skin.” But he got busy with Nurpu’s Deepavali orders and put them up as they were for sale.
Sivaguru, who is from a family of weavers, talks about a work ethic they strictly adhere to: “We never take back leftover threads from the weavers once we offer it to them for work,” he says.
“My father and grandfather have told me that those are for the weaver to make a living.” But Ganapathi turned them into saris. “Ganapathi thatha is like that,” says Sivaguru.
To buy the saris, visit www.nurpu.in.