Imagine a town called Muga, a cluster of villages named Paat, a district renamed Eri or Endi, the Mibu Galuk zilla, the Gamusa municipality, the Kessa Xoon gaon, and so on and so forth.
Fashion is not just the clothes you wear, the jewellery, footwear, bag, belt or any other accessory that you style yourself with to get that complete look. Fashion is “instant language’ as Miuccia Prada once said, and going beyond, it also is a strong voice that harks back to our past, running strong through our collective stream of consciousness — from the weaves, patterns, motifs, dyes, even the processes, and embellishments like embroidery —all inextricably linked to the land we come from, the climate, water, soil, flora and fauna. Some strong skeins that run through these all are the influence of external forces like the people who floated in and out in the course of their journeys, be it as conquerors or settlers.
For instance, why do you think does the muga belong to Assam? Simply because the climatic conditions were ideal for that particular variety of silkworm to breed in the wild. Do you know that 24 carat gold was mined from the rivers in Upper Assam by a particular community called the Sonwals who were employed by the Ahom kings? That’s how the jewellers in Upper Assam came in.
Leaning back to imagine that cluster of villages named Paat or the Kesa Xoon Gaon, why not rename our towns, villages to identify them with a particular craft that its people have made an industry of? There are a few instances like Bagru in Rajasthan and Patan Patola in Gujarat. Bagru is a town famous for its handblock prints, almost every narrow lane and bylane teeming with young and old men chipping or chiselling away deftly to carve those exquisite blocks of wood which will then get sold to print rolls and rolls of fabric that are cut to make graceful dresses, home linen, bags and more. Similarly, Patan is a town and patola a double ikat woven elegant silk saree.
Imagine, prominent highways, roads that lead up to those towns and villages named after the crafts and their master practitioners. The benefits will be many — a promise to Gen Next that crafts are indeed given the due respect and those not willing to follow in the footsteps of the family, will begin to take greater pride in their art; a new lease of life for the craft and the craft people; most importantly, preserve our heritage the way it was and the way it should continue to be — undiluted and pure, yet steeped in the lores of yore, and of course countless tourism opportunities too.
What’s your take? Would love to hear from you.
