Maheshwar Weaves
Maheshwar Weaves
Maheshwar's textile industry spins a tale of its own, such that people from all over know the worth of its cloth, so intricately woven, top in quality and price, both
Text & Photographs: Farzana Contractor
Rehwa is another name for the river Narmada, which itself is known as the Lifeline of Madhya Pradesh for its contribution to the state. There is another Rehwa, REHWA Society, the name given to a non-government organisation, started in 1978 to offer a lifeline of another kind, to the local people of Maheshwar, the sari-weavers.”
Maheshwar saris are elegant and traditional Indian saris made from cotton and silk fabric. They are handwoven with zari in various designs such as stripes, checks, or with floral borders.
These saris are celebrated for their unique weaving technique and reversible borders, known as bugdi which can be worn on both sides. These saris often feature intricate motifs inspired by nature, temples and geometric patterns.
But they were not always in as much demand as now. Right until Richard and Sally Holkar put their minds to it.
One cannot conjure REHWA without thinking of Sally Holkar, Richard’s former wife. Sally, an American who is mother to their two children, Sabrina and Yeshwant, used to live in Delhi, now lives in Bombay, occasionally also at her home, right besides the Narmada in Maheshwar.
I sought her out to know more about REHWA, which the couple had founded almost half a century ago. We were seated in the café of Willingdon Mews, the beautiful residence apartments that belong to the Taj group of hotels.
Sally was rather reticent about drawing attention to herself, she began with, “Oh, REHWA is a success story, thanks to so many people; I was only one of them.” Sure, but the genesis took shape thanks to you…
Thus nudged, Sally spilled the beans. “Well, it’s a true story which sounds like a fabrication. One day in the '70s, I was walking past the gates of the fort in Maheshwar when an old man with lovely eyes and a lovely face stopped me saying, “Please give me work, I am dying of hunger. He was a weaver.”
It made an impact on Sally. She found it difficult to overlook that incident. She knew the weavers worked from homes which were made of mud and in decrepit conditions. “I couldn’t believe it, the Maheshwari saris were beautiful, Rani Saheba wore them, too, exquisite nine-yard saris. And here were weavers starving... weeping, not asking for money, just work! I knew something had to be done. So, me being me, and naïve enough, thought let's start a project, a movement to help the weavers as well as focus attention on Maheshwar saris. You see, in the '60s and '70s the demand was for ‘foreign’ saris, women wanted the chiffons and the Chantilly.”
So, Sally went forth and set up a unit where 12 weavers could come and weave, under one roof, in some level of comfort. She decided to encourage women weavers who until then hadn’t ventured out of their homes. She wanted to get them socially active, too. “They came gingerly, while the men looked sheepishly. The men were put in charge of purchasing, going to the bazaars and so on. The looms multiplied and so did the weavers. Soon we had more saris than we knew what to do with! So what do we do with the surplus? Someone suggested we should hold an exhibition! I had no idea how that worked, but we did hold one, somewhere in Indore, I think, and lo and behold, we were sold out! Soon word spread and from then on it was all go! We never looked back.” The men now happily encouraged the women who had become the breadwinners to go join REHWA. Sally’s goal was met.
One exhibition led to another. Says Sally nostalgically, “It was wonderful, you know, because after each exhibition the feedback was instant, produce this, not that, this design is better, these colour tones are the rage, brick red, deep navy, greens, and yes yellow, it's auspicious and so on. First it was a lot of cotton saris that were woven, then pure silk came in. The weave was cotton on cotton, then it became silk waft and cotton weft, which gave the saris a different sheen. We took this face-to-face feedback seriously, learnt a lot and went everywhere we could holding exhibitions. Production improved and so did sales. It was rewarding," concludes Sally, now smiling.
I did visit the REHWA unit on the Ahilya Fort premises to see the women in action. Attached to the unit is a shop which stocks an amazing array of these beautiful saris, from where you could make your purchases.
REHWA has grown, they now have a sister concern called Women Weave, which is situated in the fort town. As well as The Handloom School which teaches the younger lot, those born in the weaver families. “We started with getting them from a cluster of six or seven villages around and have now grown, thanks to the weavers who held each other's hands and supported the cause, increasing the circle by getting weavers from central and north India. Unfortunately, not from the south because of the language barrier,” informs Sally.
REHWA is a success story, no doubt. Where there's a will there's a way. Simple.