BHARATI PAWASKAR
It took him 22 months to complete the intricately hand-woven stole that won him a national award at the hands of the President of India in 2006. This stole had deep, intricate designs which made it expensive and time-consuming. The stole when sent for nomination and selection to the government of India had a tag of Rs 2.5 lakh and after it was selected and the weaver was announced the national award, the government officers asked him whether he wants to sell it to be kept in the museum for display, the weaver declined, saying, “I would keep it for myself as a remembrance of my patience, expertise and art.” The weaver is none other than Damji Vankar from Kutch, Gujarat who will be exhibiting some of his works at the upcoming ‘IndiGenius Fest’ happening in Goa on May 31 and June 1 and 2 at Saraya, Sangolda.
The stoles, sarees, shawls and dupattas that Damji and his family weaves are priced between few hundred to a few lakh rupees. Those who have worn his stoles, shawls and sarees are celebrities including Amitabh Bachchan, Sonia Gandhi and Narendra Modi.
Damji recalls, “One of the MLAs from Gandhinagar wanted to gift a stole to our Prime Minister Narendra Modi and so he asked my brother Chaman to weave a special stole of Khadi. The stole was gifted to Modi who was very much impressed by its art work. ‘I will preserve this stole for special occasions, as it is very dear to me, for the simple reason that this is made by a weaver from my Gujarat,’ were prime minister’s words. The saree weaved by us was purchased at an exhibition by someone to gift Sonia Gandhi. So is the case with Amitabh Bachchan, who purchased one of our stoles from an exhibition in Mumbai.”
A regular stole weaved by Damji may cost as low as Rs 500 and as high as Rs 1lakh, while a saree may begin at Rs 5000 and can be quoted at Rs 1,25,000. The cloth weaved by hand is sold between Rs 300-600 per meter. The more delicate and intricate is the work, the more could be the price. The famous organic Black Cotton variety grown only in Kutch is the reason for this price factor. Besides black cotton variety Damji also makes cotton silk sarees and stoles.
An inhabitant of Bhujodi, a village 8 km south of Bhuj, a major textile centre of Kutch in Gujarat, Damji is the youngest in five siblings. He is the 12th generation weaver in his family and is a prominent awardee among the 1200 inhabitants who are into textile handicraft production.
Vankar means weaver in Gujarati and Damji admits that his ancestors have long forgotten their original surname and are only known by the vocation they followed passionately for generations. And Damji is not the only one in his family who received national award. His family has total nine national awards to their credit. Damji’s father Premjibhai is the proud recipient of Shilpa Guru Award and Damji’s elder brother has received prestigious Kabir Puraskar. His other brothers Devji, Hirji and Chaman, his sister-in-laws as well as nephews too have received national awards. Though there are over two dozen weavers in Bhujodi who have national awards in their name, Damji’s family has the most number of awards.
When asked, when was that he learnt this art of weaving, Damji just smiles and replies, “It must be in our DNA. The Vankars are born with this art. The very birth in Vankar community certifies us with this specialised art. Who taught us, is a question that every child in our family asks his or her father. When my father asked my grandfather the very same question, he had replied, ‘Soon after you were born you were covered with the cloth I weaved with designs threaded by your mother. The very touch of this cloth instils in the new born Vankar babies, the feeling of familiarity of a very ancient art and tradition. The toddlers play with bobbins, cotton, thread and loom. They are toys for our babies. Even I remember playing with these in my childhood.”
Damji lives in a joint family of 22 members. All four brothers and their families share a single roof. They work together and take pride in their art which has taken them across borders - to Canada, America, Russia, England, Dubai, South Africa and Thailand. Younger children pursue education but return to their roots after completion of their degrees.
Damji’s only son Rajneesh is 14 and in IX class.
“Education and knowledge is important. We want our GenNext to speak fluent English so that they can communicate with enthusiasts from foreign countries and explain about our art to them,” quips Damji who studied up to SSC, though his elder brother has graduated in Law.
Damji knows the importance of this unique art, which needs a relaxed mind and body for concentration. No member is pressurised to complete the work which is done only in daylight. They take their own time to complete a given task, but each one is a committed weaver and sits on the loom from 8 am to 6 pm. Damji has trained some youth from his village and made them competent enough to win national awards. Damji is open to teaching his art to others provided his student must hail from weaver community believing in the proverb, Jenu kaam tene fave, bijo kare so gota khai (Only he can perform the task who knows the nuance, others who try, fail terribly)!
