Books

SURAIYA HASAN BOSE: Weaving a Legacy by Radhika Singh. (Published with support from Dr. Reddy’s Foundation.) Tara Press, Delhi, 2019.

MY mother and she shared a name, though Amma spelt it differently, so I have an natural affinity with Suraiya Hasan Bose, the subject of Radhika Singh’s eponymously named book, subtitled Weaving a Legacy. Hyderabad is another link. But of course it is our mutual love of textiles and the people who craft them which is the real close bond. Over recent decades we have hardly met more than half a dozen times, but each time it is as old friends – almost family. Every few years I turn up at her home cum workplace, she shows me the latest blossoms in her garden, the latest weave on her loom… A conversation springs up immediately, hardly needing words.

Everyone talks of Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay and Pupul Jayakar in the context of post-Independence textiles and crafts; and that is a given. But we owe so much to dozens of others who worked, unknown and unsung today, to revive and recreate our heritage. Suraiya apa (as she is always known) is one such; even less known than many, since most of her pioneering work with handlooms was done quietly in Andhra (mainly in what is now Telangana), far away from Delhi-centric North India. Another story, equally unknown, is that it was her husband, Aurobindo Bose, Subhash Chandra Bose’s nephew, who created both the term ‘Netaji’ for his uncle, and the slogan ‘Jai Hind’.

If it wasn’t for Suraiya apa, as Radhika Singh points out, we might not have even the rather dumbed down versions of kalamkari, paithani and Warangal durries that we have today, and himru and telia rumaal ikats would remain faded scraps in museum collections; the only surviving relics of once great textile traditions. Radhika, rightly, also gives credit to John Bissell of Fabindia and Terence Conran of Habitat, who, early on, saw the unique potential of the textiles she was reviving, and placed regular orders; supporting her and her weavers and craftspeople through those crucial early years.

Craft is a composite activity, with many hands and minds working together in unison. Suraiya apa was lucky to find two master weavers, Abdul Qadir and Syed Omer, who had the skill and motivation to work with her. Together they created the graphs and jaalas that are the basis for the intricate patterned weaving that is himru and ikat. When Suraiya apa tracked down Abdul Qadir, whose expertise she had known years earlier while working with the Cottage Industries Emporium, he was doing soulless job-work in an industrial glass cloth factory, sores all over his legs as a result of the glass splinters. It is typical of how casually we take these priceless repositories of our traditional skill sets and knowledge systems.

Similarly, Syed Omer, a skilled handloom weaver, had worked as a coolie and was almost destitute till Suraiya apa gave him another chance. He became her trusted right hand and co-designer. Abdul Qadir’s Varanasi background and expertise in Banarsi weaving added a new design element to himru, traditionally patterned in tiny buti motifs or diagonal decorative stripes, so tightly woven that each small floral or geometric motif had an almost three-dimensional effect on the surface of the cloth. Suraiya apa’s himru, later copied by himru looms in Aurangabad, its place of origin, specialized in floral all-over entwined trellises reminiscent of Banarsi brocades.

She discovered, almost accidentally, the telia rumal double ikat kerchiefs long manufactured for the African market, successfully transforming them into sarees and dupattas, while keeping the hallmark dramatic black, red, and white geometric patterning. Nelly Sethna had done the definitive documentation of Macchlipatnam kalamkari and its motif directory, but Suraiya apa brought it back into the marketplace – as bedspreads, yardage and sarees. Some of the characteristic stylized floral jaals and paisleys she developed survive, as does the classic Persian-inspired cypress tree fronted by strutting peacocks, but that singing crimson and pure indigo blue that were such a distinctive characteristic of Macchlipatnam kalamkari have degenerated into a sludgy terracotta and olive green, too often done by silkscreen rather than the original incredibly fine blocks.

There was also a comeback of paithani brocade weaving, which had been revived in Hyderabad state in the early 20th century by my French great aunt, Alys Hydari, who, inspired by Ajanta wall paintings, incorporated stylized motifs of lotus, iris, carnation flowers, and hans birds into the previously formal borders and pallavs of traditional paithani. These flowered again, decades later, in Suraiya apa’s paithani and uppada jamdaani revivals.

Successfully working with craft means going beyond surface ornamentation, and understanding technique and technology. The reason Suraiya apa moved so seamlessly between himru, paithani, durry weaving, ikat, and mashru is that she knew how each shuttle and heddle worked, how to design a graph for the jaala, how to create repetitive motifs that fitted and flowed harmoniously into each other and matched the warp and weft of the loom.

Equally important, Suraiya apa has a gift for friendship and inspiring loyalty. Her relationships, forged decades ago with now highly successful ikat manufacturers and durry makers in Telangana and Andhra, are still the subject of affectionate reminisce, long after her own looms have sadly fallen silent. In a life with its many ups and downs, her combination of practical sense and idealism stood her in good stead. When she inherited a plot of barren land and decided to turn it into an organic and dairy farm, she employed and trained 50 women to work in it, but also took on eight alsatian dogs to keep guard.

Radhika Singh’s book on Suraiya apa is, like its subject, a mixture of warmth, affection and anecdote, plus detailed, practical know-how and information on the many splendoured weaves she worked with. The book was a long time in the making, but it is worth it.

A preface by Uzramma of Malkha, with both personal anecdotes and historical insights, and a concluding essay by Mayank Mansingh Kaul, contextualizing Suraiya apa’s work in the broader framework of post-Independence textiles, combined with Priyanka Patel’s diagrams, add depth to this lovely volume, while Amita Prashar Gupta’s beautiful illustrations add colour and dimension – bringing both Suraiya apa and her beloved textiles to life. If we could only resuscitate her life-work too. Live another 90 years please, Suraiya apa.

Laila Tyabji

Founder member and Chairperson of DASTKAR Society for Crafts & Craftspeople