BANGALORE, June 7. The sleepy village of Maheshwari in Madhya Pradesh is humming a new tune these days. Unlike the famous `Dhakai -malmul' which has been confined to the pages of history books, the gentle whirring of the looms Maheshwari has been kept alive by the fearless enthusiasm of `Sally Holkar, popularly known as Shalini, in her different avataras, is the bahu of the Holkar family of Indore. Sally is in Bangalore in transit. She is on her way to Chintamani, a small weaving village in Karnataka. She feels proud and justifiably so, at the way things are shaping up in Maheshwai. REFWA is a society she started for designing, producing and marketing the famous Maheswari handlooms, which once occupied pride of place in the wardrobe of the court ladies of Indore. In the early seventies when Sally came on to the scene, the Maheshwari tradition had all but died out, for multiple reasons including lack of guidance, apathy of the local elite and avarice of the seths' or `middle men'. In the cobwebbed, dusty shanties and the silent loom, Sally saw promise and new hope for the wretched, rundown weavers. She relentlessly targeted her energies towards clinching a deal in their favour for the revival of the ancient handloom tradition. She may be American, "`having lived in India for the last 30 years," she lives, breathes India. "India is rightfully her home", she believes. And as this American bahu digs her heels into the traditional Indian soil, her sights are trained on loftier goals: to give the rustic handloom industry in this country a place on the world map. ( courtesy The Times of India)Back to Previous Page
