The tak tak sound of a handloom welcomes you in a small by lane in Mehdipatnam. In the house, you see a woman busy weaving an intricate design and another man working on a silk ikkat sari. The lady, Balamani Kandhagatla is busy giving instructions and you can tell that she means business. Creating ikkat work, since the past three decades, she isn’t someone you mess with in the handloom industry.
As she shows you around her home that houses six looms, Balamani says, “I’m glad there is a National Handloom Day on August 7. People are finally taking notice of weavers; but nothing will change until people change how they look at handlooms. Increasing the salaries of weavers and giving material at subsidised rates might help.”
She adds, “There is a stamp for handloom products, but there are times when products created on power looms bear the handloom stamp... We need to stop that.” Balamani’s entire family has been in the handloom business since decades. “My father-in-law’s parents were weavers during the Nizam’s time and the family has kept the tradition alive. I had never seen a loom in my life and after my marriage, I was suddenly introduced to this world. It took me 10 years to master the art.”
Balamani is now a Master Weaver and at home in Hyderabad she takes care of the working of all six looms. “We have another four looms in small hamlets close to Nalgonda. We create the designs and dye the cloth and send it to the weavers there, they just weave it and send it back to us,” she explains.
The entire process of creating a cloth is not as simple as the outcome seems. “There are many processes involved. We wash the raw thread and then dye it, post that there are several other processes to be followed after which we weave the thread into a cloth,” she says.
Each process involves a minimum of one person and a maximum of two.
“Handlooms provide many people with livelihood. For instance, one sari could have at least six to seven people working on it and each one is paid based on the work they do… so when power looms increase people are robbed of their livelihood,” she says.
While Balamani handles the business at home, her husband works at the Ministry of Textiles. She says, “We make sure that the children in the family too learn the basics of weaving. For instance, my nephew who wants to become an engineer knows how to weave… we tell him that if he weaves one lungi, we will pay him whatever we pay a worker… that way the children learn the trade and also get their pocket money.”
The family is always busy creating new designs for their weaves. “In 2012, my husband won the National Award for a double doriya, double ikkat sari that he created… the sari was so difficult to create… it took one hour to create one square inch… and now the sari is priced at '50,000,” she says.
She adds, “Designer Gaurang Shah places orders for material and he’s been a great support to our family business.”
