Day 4: Home visit and sourcing

By Smriti Bharati (NID, Ahemdabad)
Kuber Nagar, Ahmedabad

Their 'godhadis'' are joyous, and they are soulful. They invite you to experience the joy that comes to you as soon as you open them. They are the stories of the life that these artisans have experienced in the past during the India-Pakistan partition. The tradition of patchwork initiated at the time when refugees from partition had no money to buy the new clothes and they had to survive wit whatever they had. So, they had to mend their torn clothes with an additional piece of fabric either stitching it as a patch or layering it on top of it. This gave the old fabric an extra life adding to the aesthetic appeal of it. Since then, this tradition has been passed from one generation to the other, from mother to her daughter. "Hum apne baccho ko ye sikhate hain, jis se kal ye apne baccho ko sikhaye. Hum to chale jawenge par ye godhadi reh jawengi", proudly says Meera Ben.

Meera ben showing and explaining her work

Everyone having breakfast and tea at Neeta ben's house

Daai ben showing her work

These beautiful pieces of art are something that no machine can ever produce. 'godhadis'' are a way of utilizing the scraps and old clothes. These are not made to make money but to create their own wealth and heritage which continuous for generations. Meera Ben knows no boundaries of joy when she says,"Ye meri saas ne mujhe diya tha jab mai is ghar me ayi thi." At present, Meera Ben herself has her grand children and it has been more than fifty years now that she has preserved this beautiful 'godhadi' made by her mother in law.

Having 50-60 number of 'godhadis'' is nothing great according to Meera Ben. She says, "Hamare paas zada nahi hain, bas pachaas- saath hi hain." Each and every single 'godhadi' has an element of surprise to it because it is a very spontaneous response to the scraps available to use. Through these 'godhadis', these artisans express their daily life experiences and objects from their surroundings . 'Naagfani'- Zigzag Snake, 'Toffee'- candy wrapper, 'Tubelight', ”Laddoo'- sweet (ball form), etc. are a few examples of the designs that are used. These designs are very basic yet very playful. Their 'Godhadis' do not follow any set rules and boundaries. Each and every single piece is the self expression of an individual and is unique. The artisans also have a great sense of color and composition. The most amazing part is that they do everything directly on fabric, i.e. no initial drawings or sketches are made. That is how they turn out to be playful and surprising. Every part of the quilt is paid attention in terms of choosing the color of the thread and embroidering the borders to give the final touch and add to the visual aesthetics of it.

The bollywood actress Nargis, once visted these artisans and got so fascinated by these quilts that she wanted a saree made for her daughter's wedding. The design was named as 'Nargis Buta' after Nargis's name. Meera Ben feels so happy to show the old photograph that she has preserved, taken with Nargis when she visited them. There is also a tradition of putting a mark as a signature on the quilt in order to prevent it from getting misplaced. Small embroidered flowers and other small motifs are used on the borders and the corners as a mark of identity.

These 'godhadis' also reflect the artisans' own personality. Quilts made by Daahi Ben are as calm and peaceful as she is. Her work shows the amount of patience she has. One can easily differntiate between her quilts and others.

These beautiful textiles show the passion that these artisans have. It is not just the piece of textile for them, but a part of their own lives.