The Sarees, Fabric and The Artist

In today’s society, art is majorly marketed rather than created.

Art moves faster than the artist.

And that is the sad reality but thanks to a handful of real-life heroes who promote original regional art and artisans together.

…

We love to wear the chikankari dress from Purani Delhi, dhakai jamdani from Dhaka, Tant from Bengal, fancy South silk from Chennai, Muga silk from Assam, Toshor from Jharkhand, Kotki from Orissa, shantipuri cotton from Shantipur as the name suggests, Ikkat from Gujarat and so on. But how many of us know about the artisan colonies who make these?

Living in a world that makes profit out of your insecurities, loving yourself is a rebellious act. But sometimes, psychology says due to lack of love from our close ones we tend to love materials. We become materialistic.

…

So, is being materialistic that bad?

Most probably it isn’t. Today, I am reviewing a Xtream originals, Sudakshina’r shari (Sudakshina’s saree) where we see the ever-gorgeous Sreelekha Mitra, playing a well-educated, efficient homemaker who has a innate passion for collecting sarees, Sudakshina. But her mother-in-law doesn’t approve. For her it is utter waste of money and time.

For Sudakshina it is larger than life.

The way the stitches move upward on soft fabric, the broad and sequinned borders, the gorgeous pallus, the sheer craft of the artisan…for her, noticing all the tiny details about a saree and enjoying, ruminating and establishing a surreal connection with the women who make them, takes her to a whole new world. A world where no one judges, a world where gender roles are smashed, a world where you are not criticised by your own child every now and then just because you had some elements left even after marriage to have a passion.

She left studies, she left her passion for writing before marriage. She takes great care of her in-laws, her husband and her son but nope, that is not enough. A woman definitely has to leave her interests and passion behind as well. Why? Why not? She’s married don’t you see?

She has been portrayed as a household lady and she has a passion for sarees.

In her collection, she has more than 60 types and in number it crosses more than 1000 sarees. This easy thing has become a hard to digest fact for her family members.

…

Female friendships have been shown beautifully. People who meet over the conversations on saree instantly become best friends. She also came across a college-friend who is the editor of a media agency currently. They ruminate and re-live the old days over endless cups of coffee as Sudakhina talks about her new-found passion for sarees. Her friend tells her to resume writing just like the college days.

Sudakshina had left writing her studies all her extra-curricular activities, her own place for the marriage. But artistry had not left her.

Luckily, she got the chance to come across the grassroot artisans of shantiniketan who make kantha stitch sarees.  She immediately decides to resume writing. Again. This time for the artisans. She wanted to document these artisan women colony’s lives, their struggles, their food and every tiny bit of culture in her writing. We wear the dresses, the sarees and forget about the makers, the creators who majority of the times fail to afford the raw materials due to poverty, exploitation by the middlemen.

A true artist is always attracted towards the art and then they strive to know the backdrop of the show. They look for the reality that is not surfacing along with the output/the art. She writes a book about them eventually and finds a more or less parmamnet solution for their financial security.

More power to the people who enable artists by providing them with their deserved recognition and financial independence.

Get in touch with me! Find me on instagram: @the_twofaced_devi

What do you feel about artists? Do you think we should be getting few changes how artists are treated? Let’s get talking. Mail me swetlana.dutta@gmail.com .

Thanks for reading! : )