The Hindu Business Line : Poetry on clothes

The children in front of their small dingy houses play in the dust, and fight and cry through the day. But their noise hardly deters the women from stitching delicate designs on sarees, kurta pyjama, salwar kameez, shirts, bed-sheets, pillow covers, cushion covers, etc.

Love for stitching

It is their love for stitching which keeps the rich chikankari tradition alive in the culturally vibrant city of Lucknow. Around 2.5 lakh chikankari artisans in Lucknow and nearby Malihabad, Kakori, Unao, Bilagram, Alam Nagar, Bijnaur and Bilaspura villages earn Rs 15 to Rs 50 a day from chikankari work.

Chikankari exports fetch more than $12.5 million a year for the State and supports a million people in the entire supply chain. Though there is huge demand for chikankari work in the domestic and international markets, maintaining the craft's popularity is becoming a big problem.

Large-scale mechanisation, entry of similar embroidery works from neighbouring countries, influence of middlemen and the disinterestedness of senior artisans caste a gloom on the craft's future.

Senior artisans do not get the price they deserve. The growing societal indifference to aesthetic craft, aggressive consumerism and increasing influence of middlemen in the trade have eroded much of the skill and artistry — many fine chikankari stitching techniques such as kaudi, jodapati, dhumkipati, khjur ki pati, double bakhia, rahejka jakha and gol murri have almost disappeared.

Gone are the days when senior chikankari artisans won accolades in the courts of kings and nawabs. It is believed the Moghul queen Noor Jahan was the creator of chikankari work.

In fact, the origin of chikankari work goes beyond the medieval period. Greek traveller Megasthenes mentions about Indians making fine embroidery work on muslin cloth in 3 BC.

In three phases

The exotic chikankari work is made in three phases. The artisan first imagines the motifs of different flowers, creepers, birds, animals, geometric shapes, etc. Then the wooden blocks of the motifs are prepared to make an imprint on the cloth base. The artisans then blend different stitching techniques to instil life into those motifs which are then stitched on cotton, silk, georgette, chiffon and other fabrics.

Images of Taj Mahal, temples, mosques, and so on, are woven on clothes with amazing dexterity. The State's handicraft department also provides computer-generated designs to artisans. Though there is no dearth of designs and innovation there is a shortage of skilled workers.

Today, there are more daily wagers than real artists in Lucknow. Naseem Bano, the national award winner from Lucknow, still preserves the skill of making anokhi chikan which is known only to a few artisans in Lucknow.

The artisan combines morie, kali and keherki stitching to make the subject look as if it is painted with a fine brush. It is believed the famous chikankari artisan Hasan Mirza had created anokhi chikan in the 1960s.

Anokhi and other fine chikan work were as costly as gold in the western and European market. The skill and artistry of the chikankari craft must be preserved, as it has the potential to generate revenue and employment on a sustainable basis.

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