Headline, April 25 2022/ INDIA'S : ''' '' LOVE WEAVING LORE '' '''

INDIA'S : ''' '' LOVE

 WEAVING LORE '' '''

WEAVING GOD'S WONDERS : BELIEVE IT OR NOT. ACCEPT IT OR NOT, it is the students of  Great India and Proud Pakistan and the Glorious World, who will solve all the problems and issues confronting Mankind.

H.E. PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI JEE has just about begun gleaning that against love he has zero defenses. All exit roots clogged. The World Students Society has gyrated trust and honour back to the great people of India.

As Almighty God wills, I will soon be walking across Wagah, time enough to pay my respects and homage to Patron Saint Khwaja Nizam ud din Aulia, get a tutorial on Humanity and Mankind and the majesty of  love.

In Varanasi, I will sit and share with these master artisans and understand what constitutes warp and weave and beauty and emotions in the fabric of humanity's geographical boundaries.

In a dim room near the banks of India's mother Ganges river, arms glide over a creaking loom as another silken fibre is guided into place with the rhythmic clack of a wooden beam. Mohammed Sirajuddin's cramped studio is typical of Varanasi's dwindling community of artisans painstakingly working by hand to produce silk saris, uniquely cherished among their wearers as the epitome of traditional Indian sartorial style.

The city he calls home is revered among devout Hindus, who believe that cremation on the banks of its sacred waterway offers the chance to escape the infinite cycle of death and rebirth.

But Sirajuddin's own reflections on mortality are centred on his craft, with competition from more oct-efficient mechanised alternatives and cheap imports from China leaving his livelihood hanging by a thread.

''If you walk around this whole neighborhood, you'll see that this is the only house with a handloom,'' the 65-year-old tells AFP. ''Even this will be here only as long as I am alive. After that, nobody in this house will continue.''

Varanasi's hand-weavers have cultivated a reputation for excellence over centuries, specialising in intricate patterns, floral designs and radiant golden brocades.

The Banarasi saris - so called in reference to the city's ancient name - they produce are widely sought after by Indian brides and are often passed on from one generation to the next as family heirlooms.

The elegant garments fetch handsome prices - Sirajuddin's current work will go on sale for INR 30,000 [$390] but the cost of inputs and cuts taken middlemen leave little left for weavers.''

''Compared to the hard work that goes into making the sari, the profit is negligible,'' Siarajuddin says.

His neighbours have all switched to electric looms for their garments, which lack the subtleties of hand - woven textiles and sell for just a third of the price but take a fraction of the time to finish. The fortunes of India's textile trade - historically a cottage industry - have long been subject to sudden and devastating upheavels from abroad.

Its delicate fabrics were prized by the 18th century Europeans elite but British colonisation and England's industrial-era factories flooded India with much cheaper textiles, decimating the market for handwoven garments.

Decades of socialist-inspired central planning after independence bought some reprieve by shielding local handicrafts from the international market.

But economic reforms in the early 1990s opened the country up to cheap goods just as the country's northern neighbour was establishing itself as the globalised world's workshop.

''Chinese yarn and fabric came in everywhere,'' said author and former politician Jaya Jaitly, who has written a book on Veransai's woven textiles, adding that Sari for factories there had for years been emulating the city's unique patterns and detail.

''All of these thriving industries got killed .......  through Chinese competition and their ability to produce huge quantities at very low prices.''

Jaitly said local weavers needed urgent protection from the government to preserve a wealth of artisanal traditions that otherwise risked disappearing. ''We have the largest number of varieties of handloom, techniques, skills ...... more than anywhere else in the world,'' she said.

''I think that's truly a tradition to be proud of.''

Demand for Banarasi saris, already limited to a select indian clientele able to justify spending at a premium, has also suffered in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The virus threat may have receded in India, but job losses and a big dent to the economy have taken their toll.

''The weavers are suffering a lot. They are not getting the right price for their products, payments are also coming late,'' said local sari merchant Muhammed Shahid, his store empty but for sales assistants stacking silk garments on the shelves.

Shahid was nonetheless hopeful that well-heeled and discerning customers would return.

''Those who know the value of handloom will continue to buy and cherish our saris. The handlooms can dwindle but they will never go away,'' Shahid, 33, said.

The Honour and Serving of the Latest Global Operational Research on Artisans and crafting beauty, continues. The World Students Society thanks AFP.

With most respectful dedication the Great Artisans of India, and then Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya all prepare and register for Great Global Elections on The World Students Society  - for every subject in the world : wssciw.blogspot.com and Twitter - !E-WOW! - The Ecosystem 2011 :

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless