Weavers from 15 states in city to spread silk charm

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The Chennaiites’ love for silk was evident, when officials of National Handloom Development Corporation (NHDC) said the Tamil Nadu capital accounts for maximum sales among various cities in the country, where they conduct annual fairs.

“We realised sales worth Rs 6.5 crore last year while in the previous year, it was Rs 4 crore in Chennai. We are expecting to touch Rs 7.5 crore sale this year,” S. Malik, NHDC’s chief manager (commercial) told this newspaper.

“Chandigarh, Delhi, Mumbai and Patna follow Chennai in that order in terms of revenue earnings,” said Mr Malik, adding that NHDC commences the annual exhibition at Chennai due to the pleasant weather available now. “After Chennai, the fair will be held across the country including Mumbai, Surat, Ahmedabad, Coimbatore and Patna,” he added.

On Wednesday, state handlooms secretary G. Santhanam inaugurated the national level exhibition cum sale of exclusive silk products at Valluvar Kottam auditorium. He said the local patronage for variety of silk materials was the reason for the big sales in Chennai.

For three homemakers from Anna Nagar, Sudha Ram, Sudha Narmada and Gayathri Sudha, it was an opportunity to choose from assortment of silk at one place. “It is easy to shop here. We can mix and match. We also get to know the latest trend by walking around the stalls,” said Ms Narmada, who has been a regular visitor to this exhibition.

“The dress materials from Bihar are very popular here. I make it a point to visit this exhibition and pick the latest fashion,” said Mrs Neaty Mehta from Gill Nagar. As many as 175 stalls have been put up by weavers belonging to 15 states at the 14-day exhibition open between 11 am and 8 pm.

Bangla man weaves eco-friendly silk

Debabrata Dey, an accountancy professor turned weaver, stood tall among the hundreds of weavers at the exhibition organised by National Handloom Development Corporation here on Wednesday.

Mr Dey’s specialty is taking silk from cocoon without killing the insect. Mr Dey and his wife Ruchita are well-known for their hand weaving skills.

Hailing from Bangladesh, Mr Dey has settled down at Mana Camp in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. The couple have won a national award for Kantha embroidery in 2003.

“We take about six months to complete one saree. We weave by hand and don’t repeat any design,” said Mr Dey, who has 9,000 artistes training under him free of cost.

Showcasing the purity of silk by lighting a matchstick to a thread torn from a saree, Mr Dey said his eco friendly original silk products are in vogue all over the world.

Whenever the textiles ministry organises a fair outside, Mr Dey will surely be part of it. “I have displayed my products in the US and Europe,” he added.

However, Dey’s main customers are in Mumbai. “The cream of fashionatas live in Mumbai and my hand woven products are well-received there,” he said. He added that the demand in Chennai is also very good. “Last year, my products were sold out on the second day itself. So I made an air dash to Raipur to pick up more,” he noted.