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Priyanka Chauhan | Industrial Designer
National Institute of Design, 2008 +91 9998938732 nid_priyanka@yahoo.co.in
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Content 1. Acknowledgement
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Cutting
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2. Introduction
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Basic Form
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3. History
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Cylindrical Form
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Geography
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Beaten and Tighten
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People
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Rims
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Climate
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Seat
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Flora and Fauna
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Tyre rims
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Economy
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8. Market Availability
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Fair and Festivals
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9. Craftsmen
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Costumes
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10. Conclusion
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4. Mudha/Basketry
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Farrukhnagar
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People
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5. Raw Material
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6. Tools
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7. Product Development Process Cleaning
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Acknowledgement
Dr. Darlie O’ Koshi ( director of National Institute of Design) Dr. Vijaya Deshmukh ( registrar of National Institute of Design) Praveen Nahar (co-ordinator of Product Design) Shilpa Das (Faculty) Gayatri Menon (co-ordinator of Toy Design) Village Pradeep Saini (retired policeman) Phool Singh (social worker) Dinesh Saini (son of Pradeep Saini) Sona Devi (craftswoman) Baleram (craftsman) Amar Singh (craftsman) People of Farrukhnagar 4
Introduction I have always seen mudhas at my home in the drawing room and whenever anyone goes to a village the first thing they offer you to sit is a mudha. Mudha is nothing but a round stool made with the help of cane and ropes. The structure of these mudhas have always made me to think that how the structure has been made, because we can see all the canes going in one direction and at a certain angle. Inhabitants of haryana are the descendents of the same Aryan race. In haryana crafts have never been a major pre-occupation as women too work in the fields alongside the men. The crafts of the state are simple. Most crafts have not been evolved into art forms and remain rooted to the original usage. Modhas (round stools) and chairs made of sarkande (a reed) from farrukhnagar. 5
history
Haryana became a state of India on November 1, 1966. The present day Haryana is the region where, along the banks of the River Saraswati, the Vedic Civilization began and matured. It was here that the Vedas were written, as the Aryans chanted their sacred Mantras. Replete with myths and legends, Haryana’s 5000 year old history is steeped in glory. It was here that Lord Krishna preached Bhagvad-Gita at the start of the battle of Mahabharat. It was on this soil that saint Ved Vyas wrote Mahabharat in Sanskrit. Before the Mahabharat war, a battle of ten kings took place in the Kurukshetra region in the Saraswati valley. But it was the Mahabharat War, approximately in 900 BC, which gave to the region worldwide fame. Mahabharat knows Haryana as Bahudhhanyaka, land of plentiful grains and Bahudhana, the land of immense riches. The word Hariana, occurs in a 1328 AD Sanskrit inscription kept in the Delhi Museum, which refers to the Haryana region as The heaven on earth.
geography
Farukhnagar - A town in the Gurgaon tehsil and having an altitude of 220 meters, it lies in 28? 27’09” North Latitude and 76? 49’30” East Longitude at a distance of about 21 km from the tehsil/district headquarters to the north-west near the boarder of the Rohtak district. The town, octagonal in shape was founded by a Baluch chief, Faujdar Khan, who was a Governor appointed by emperor
Farrukhsiyar, after whom the place was presumably named. The tourist attraction is Jami Masjid built of Agra red stone, which was constructed by Faujdar Khan. It is ornamented with a commemorative marble tablet. Besides, two slabs of red sand stone are affixed in the southern wall of courtyard. There is also a shrine of Budho Mata situated at Mubarakpur, a village about 5 km from Farrukhnagar.
people
Total Population of 9520 Males 53% Female-47% Literacy rate- 64% Male literacy rate- 73% Female literacy rate- 55%
climate
Is continental with extremes of heat in summer. The weather remains hot in summer and markedly cold in the winters. The rainfall in the region is low and erratic except in the parts of the Karnal and Ambala
Flora and Fauna
Forest cover land is about 3.5%of the total land. A thorny dry deciduous forest, pine and thorny shrubs can be found all over the state. Chief trees are Kikar, Neem, Shisham or Indian Rosewood, Pipal, Aam or mango, Jamun, Imli or tamarind, Barh or banyan, Sagwan or Teak, Ber or Indian jujube, Semul,
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Lasura or Lehswa, Amla, Dhak, Shahstoot or Mulberry, Eucalyptus, Amrood or Guava. A carpet of green grass covers the Morni hills region which makes them excellent gazing ground for Black Buck (Antelope cervicapra) and Neelgai or blue bull. A lone leopard or a striped Hyena can be spotted on the occasion while foxes, wild bores, mongoose, a jackals and wild dogs are aplenty. A large variety of birds are found especially in the Sultanpur National park and Bhindawas Bird Sanctuary
economy Minerals: Kaolin, limestone, lime kankar, saltpeter, tin and tungsten Agriculture is main occupation Crops: Rice, wheat, jowar, bajra, maize, barely, pulses, sugarcane, cotton, oil seeds, potatoes Food: Glass of lassi or chaaj (buttermilk) followed by angakda, small thick rotis made of barely (jau) floor cooked directly on fire. Butter, onions or a pungent red chillis, onion and garlic chutney. And milk
fair and festivals All the common festivals like holi, diwali and dusshera are celebrated in the state. Teej festival is celebrated during the month of July-August, to welcome the month of sawan, bringing rains. Mainly ladies and girls enjoy the
festival more than the men folk. The bright dupattas in bright red or pink with beautiful motifs of golden thread are worn, swings are hung on trees to play with and henna is applied on hands. A colorful festival where the girls and the married ladies worship shiva and parvati Sanjhi is another important festival celebrated and worshipped as the mother goddess by the unmarried girls of haryana. Gangore is celebrated around march-April. idols of Ishar and Gangore are taken out in procession and songs in their praise are sung till they are immersed into the water
costumes Women: Chunder is a long, colored piece of cloth, decorated with the shiny lace meant to cover the head and is drawn in front like the “pallav� of the saree. Kurti is a shirt like blouse, usually white in color. Daaman is the flairy ankle long skirt in the striking colors Men: Dhotis is the wrap around cloth, tucked in between the legs with a white colored kurta worn atop. Pagri-is the traditional headgear for men, which is now worn mainly 7 by the old villagers. All white attire is a status symbol for men.
MUDHA/BASKETRY-
Cane or rattan as it is called, is a kind of climbing palm with many joined stems. The stems are dried after removing the green sheath. It is extraordinarily strong. Cane sticks twisted together are used as cables and cordage in country crafts.Chairs called Mudhas are made of bamboo and cane. They are a major export item and are made in many parts of Haryana. With time and research the traditional mudhas undergone many changes in design and style. The seat is often artistically woven out of jute strings to make it more durable.
FARRUKHNAGAR
It’s a village which comes under gurgaon district and near beautiful sultanpur bird sanctuary. We can see the shops selling mudhas on the main road and you can see few people actually making the mudhas there, but once you enter the village you get to know the intensity of the work. The village comprises of around 300 families and all of them make mudhas “whole village makes mudhas”. And no one knows when exactly they stared to make them, they say “jab se yaad hai” or “jab se hoosh sambhala hai”. You get to see women, children, old people, basically everyone making mudhas. Everywhere on the roads in homes we can see people working on the mudhas
PEOPLE
Farrukhnagar is a village with a population of 9520 ,out which male are 53% of the population and women are 47%. Literacy rate is.The village has rajputs, dhanaks(sc) and kumbhars(sc). In the village the young male members of the family work on the fields and rets of the family is busy making the mudhas. Children of the family help in cleaning the canes and cutting them into the required sizes, they go to private schools as their parents feel nothing is taught in the government schools. These kids helps their parents in the mudhas before going to the school and after coming from the school. Boys still get to do their schooling or even go to the college but girls are have to leave their studies in between as the income is not enough to support the expenses of the family. Women have big role to play in the family. They not only take care of children 8 and household cores but even make mudhas, so that their family can survive.
RAW MATERIAL Fede – sarkande- reed : Rs. 500/40 kg (comes from Agra or Rohtak) Munj ki rassi: Rs 100/kg (comes from Biwani and nearby market) Nylon ropes: Rs 100/kg (from nearby market and Delhi) Phuss-dried grass: Rs 5/0.5 kg 9
Chakku-Churi-Knife It is used to clean the sarkendes before cutting them and it is also used to cut the ropes and extra phuss while making the rims of the mudha
Darati-Sickle While is used to cut the sarkande into different sizes.
Seengh-horn like Solid metal rod It got its name from deer’s horn as that was used previously. Seengh is used to weave the seat of these mudhas.
Tools Thapi-Wooden Plank It is used to shape the cylindrical form of the mudha, by beating the canes from one side it is made sure that all the canes come at one height and the longer ones can be cut of.
Sua-big needle It is used to sew the tyre tube on the bottom rim of the mudha.
Kenchi-scissor Is used to cut the thread or tyre tubes used to cover the bottom rims of the modhas. Dhaga-thread Is used in sewing the tyre tube.
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PRODUCT Development Process 11
CUTTING
After the sarkandas are cleaned properly they are cut into sizes according to the size of the mudha they want to make. The sarkandas are cut using the sickle.
Cleaning
First al all the sarkandas are cleaned using the knife. All the extra grass and the rotten parts are removed in the process of cleaning the sarkandas. These sarkandas are brought from Agra or Rhotak .They grow in standing water mainly on the river banks.
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Cylindrical form
Basic form
When sarkandas are cut into one size, one by one sarkandas are put together to get the basic form. First two sarkanda are taken and tied together with the rope with the help of very basic knot. Then the craftsmen keep adding the sarkandas one by one and tie them with the rope by first taking the rope once from under the sarkandas and then over them. Like this whole snake like structure is made using the sarkandas and the rope on the floor.
Once structure is made then the structure is raised and forced bend into a cylinder or a dambroo like structure. Then the is made strong by tying all the sarkandas by taking rope once backward and then forward. Then this rope is then stretched to make the form stronger and more firmer
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Rims
For rims first ropes is loosely wound on the sarkandas and then phuss-dried grass is taken and pushed inside it and simultaneously the rope is tightened around it. A tyre like structure is formed on both sides of the cylindrical structure. The extra phuss is cut using the knife.
Beaten & Tighten
This cylindrical structure is beaten from one side using thappi-wooden plank, so that all the sarkandas fall in their place and all sit at one level. Then with the rope the structure is tighten to make the structure more strong and firmer.
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Seat
Once the structure of the mudha is made its time to weave the seat. The seat is weaved using the seengh and the rope. The seat is weaved using simple/plain knots. And the weave used by them is twill weave, plain weave, interlaced weave of combination of them. The seengh is used to push the rope from in between the sarkandas.
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tyre rims
To make the bottom rim of the mudhas more strong and to make sure that they last long the tyre tube are stitched on the bottom rims. This make the mudha less prone to wear and tear.
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First only mudhas as round stools were made but now new developments have been done. now using the sarkandas tables, chair like stools with back rest, havocs are being made.
market availability
On the road of farruknagar there are big shops which sell mudhas to the people. They sell them at reasonable rates. In the cities also there are few shops which sell mudhas to cater the need of the people, but as such they don’t have much variety and they sell them at a higher rate. In fairs like surajkund mela people buy them. Trade fair held at pragati maidan in Delhi the Haryana pavilion mudhas get their share of buyers and admires 17
Craftsmen Baleram around 70yrs. old He has 3 sons and one daughter, daughter has been married off and one of his son does farming on their land, one does a job in Delhi and one helps him in making mudhas. He do not have any kind of livestock. He is making mudhas since the time he can remember.
Amar Singh 60 yrs. old All his family members help him in making mudhas. He has his own house and livestock of two buffaloes. This skill of making mudhas has been passed on to him by his parents and grandparents 18
Conclusion The experience in the village was wonderful, the buttermilk, water from earthen pots ,cool breeze under the sun of may month, the mud floors and thoughts. But although you feel comfortable there for sometime but when reality knocks it seems miserable, people work there day in and night out just to make the ends meet. Children are deprived of good education just because their parents cant afford good schools fees, and at such a tender age when they are supposed to play and enjoy every moment of their childhood and room carefree with smile on their faces they help their parents and make mudhas with them. Actually they become mature enough in their childhood only. Women of the family hardly
get time for themselves. They have to do the household cores, take care of their children and help in the family craft of making mudhas. It means al through the day they can be seen working, just working. Old age people who need to take the backseat at their age have to work for their survival .Young men who work in fields or some companies in the day make mudhas in the evening after coming from their work. Basically no one escapes the work of making mudhas as this is the question of their survival. I think government needs to think about them a bit more seriously. They need to provide some good education to the young generation there, give their craft recognition as this crafts is being practiced since ages. 19