ARTS & CULTURE
THE WEEKLY OBSERVER SUPPLEMENT tueSDAY, MARCH 21, 2017
The Lesser Known Weave of Ahom Discovering a little-known gem in Assam’s textile rich textile heritage Romita Majumdar
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he one-horned rhinoceros once flourished across the length of breadth of northern India from the Indus to the Brahmaputra basin. Today its presence is limited to highly protected sanctuaries in Bengal and Assam. Yet, the beast made an elusive appearance in the Silicon city last week. Albeit, on six yards of loom. Handlooms in India have derived inspiration from nature since inception. Be it the bright colors of Rajasthani fabrics contrasting the stark desert, peacocks on Maharashtra’s ubiquitous Paithani saree or the subtle golden stripes on Kerala’s sett saree to offset the colorful landscape; nature never ceases to inspire. Similarly, when one thinks of Assamese weaves the first image that crops up in the mind is that of the iridescent Muga silk and the Mekhla-Chador or Sador which is the traditional outfit of Ahomiya women. Yet, the once abundant one-horned rhino turns up quietly on sador (stoles) and sarees of the erstwhile kingdom of Ahom. The Kaziranga weave is a unique saree weaving technique originating around the wildlife sanctuary. It is an ode to the delicate man-animal bond in forests of the East. The saree is characterized by muted colors like milkwhite and dull pinks offset by bright rhinos in red, green and black. The aanchal which is the most heavily embroi-
dered part of the saree consist of deers, Adjutant storks and other endemic species along with the rhino. Shilpi Rani Baruah, 31, hails from a family of weavers. She never planned on becoming a weaver herself. She stud-
ied computer science and went on to work as a stenographer before realizing her calling lay elsewhere. Unlike other weavers, she learned the skill much later in life but it did not deter her from finding a niche market. “These sarees take up to ten days to complete depending on the intricacy of the weave,” says Baruah. Originally, these sarees were purely woven for casual wear unlike the Mekhla which tends to be more of a festive outfit when it is made out of Muga silk. Mekhlas may also be woven on cotton or silk but the Kaziranga weave was exclusively created on cotton owing to its functional use in the fields and
forests. This robust loom does not require starch or ironing. It is an ideal fabric to survive the extreme temperature shifts of the fertile Brahmaputra basin. However, the emergence of a cosmopolitan market warranted the switch to lighter fabrics like mercerized cotton and Dupion silks in many weaving communities which raises the cost. They range anywhere between 1500 to 5000 rupees based on the quality. So unique is the craft that each family of weavers can have exclusive motifs and patterns. Baruah holds a certificate from the Ministry of Textiles for her technique which enables her to create sarees which are locked away in the Ministry’s vault for their sheer rarity. “Although, I do wish they would let me market those designs instead of turning them into showpieces. The only way to promote the industry would be by taking it to more buyers,” she says. While Baruah isn’t the first weaver to bring the saree to Bangalore she is definitely one of the few entrepreneurs from the east to identify its demand in urban enclaves. She moved to Bangalore eight years ago. She goes back to her hometown near Guwahati a couple of times annually to update the community about current color and design trends based on client feedback. The Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath regularly hosts Shilpa Melas that provides a platform for small handicraft entrepreneurs like Baruah to connect to keen buyers and handloom enthusiasts. So the next time you are looking for some a unique gift for your saree-loving friends or just a comfortable outfit, do try the rhino weaves of Kaziranga to add a hint of the wild to your wardrobe.
Nothing Like “Nothing like Lear”! A roller coaster of emotions, the play juggles with the original Shakespearean play Ashima Chowdhary
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taging a single character play is a big risk. The character has to engage the audience while staying true to the script. He has to have a massive stage presence and deliver to the expectations of his audience as well as those of his director. The writer and the director have to maintain a quick pace and keep the proceedings interesting and minimalistic. And ‘Nothing like Lear’, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear, directed by Rajat Kapoor manages to do just as same. The play was showcased in Bangalore as part of the Shakespeare comedy festival at JyotiNivas Auditorium, JyotiNivas College, Koramangala. Vinay Pathak plays a clown battling happiness, sadness and madness. Watching the play is like a game where the audience and the actor fight for the upper hand and the actor always wins. The whole idea behind the play is the ability to talk to a stranger about things which we cannot talk about to even the people closest to us. Pathak narrates the story of his life starting from his childhood to his tryst with depression, a therapist and a laughter club to becoming a father and finally being abandoned by his daughter. The element evident while watching (/reading) King Lear is tragedy. King
Lear is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It depicts the gradual descent into madness of the title character, after he disposes of his kingdom giving bequests to two of his three daughters based on their flattery of him, bringing tragic consequences for all. On the other hand, Nothing like Lear teases the audience and makes it hard for them to decide what all to accept and what all to reject. Pathak juggles truth and expectations. He nods appreciatively when the audience gives him the word he’s been trying to recall and sprinkling an “I know my lines,” every here and then thus hinting that the audience better take his words with a pinch of salt. At the heart of the play is the miserable relationship of the clown with his child. This unfolds through some splendidly considered scenes in which Pathak ventures into the role of a narrator and switches between that and the role of an actor, talking with the group of audience one minute, talking lines of tremendous anguish the next.The play takes deeper, darker turns as it progresses, plummeting the clown into madness. The clown, sometimes in the role of a father and sometimes a son, spews unspeakable bile that only long-suffering, patient men are capable of. There are moments in the play where the clown, after a very poignant scene, claims to have faked the entire story just to get the audience’s goat thus taking away the cathartic effect
of the scene. The lighting in the play was fascinating and was used to set the tone/mood of a particular scene rather than being obtrusively loud and showy. This was a technical masterstroke since it allowed the audience to focus on the character and did not distract them from the storyline. All in all, Kapoor has created a play which is funny interactive and insightful. It is a rollercoaster of emotions and the flow of the script makes it clear that Kapoor is a man who knows his stuff.