‘Tana Bana’ went the ‘yes, I’m listening, continue your story’ refrain of affirmation that had listeners singing along, hesitantly at first, then with increasing enthusiasm. Translating to ‘warp-weft’, it fanned out to encourage audience participation and a sense of inclusiveness.
Against the backdrop of an exclusive collection of hand-woven and artisan-embellished saris and textiles designed and curated by Uma B.K of Shiuli, the day-long event, that took place in Chennai recently, progressed to a session of shared personal narratives collated by Madhu, a veteran story teller. The evening ended with a storytelling session by Deeptha Vivekanand whose narratives were illustrated by classical vocalist Ranjani Sivakumar Siddareddy’s music.
Deeptha spoke about weavers and the significance of the act of weaving. Legend has it that Manu was sent to earth to weave the most wondrous fabrics from tree bark and leaves. When he exited, the world was bereft of weavers. The Devas appealed to Siva, deep in meditation. ‘Sethu madhya gandha madana’ from the kriti ‘Ramanatham Bhajeham’ (Kashiramakriya/Pantuvarali, Muthuswami Dikshitar) described Siva in his abode. Siva created the first human weaver Devanga, who approached Vishnu to learn about the reason for his existence. Drawing fibres from his navel, Vishnu instructed him to go forth and weave cloth for mankind. Ranjani’s rendition of the sloka ‘Sa Sankha Chakram’ and the lines ‘Manikol Maarbane’ from Papanasam Sivan’s ‘Thunai Purindharul’ (Varamu) aptly described Vishnu’s form. When Devanga and his group were attacked by rakshasas, Devi Chandeshwari answered their prayers and slew the demons. Their blood spilled out in varying hues. Devanga dipped his yarns in them and thus obtained a palette of colours. To this day, the Devangas are a leading weaver community populating different states.
Story two dealt with the Padmashalis, another weaver community, said to have descended from Bhava Narayana, the adopted son of sage Markandeya.
The third tale was drawn from Greek mythology. Arachne, most exquisite of mortal weavers was unequalled in skill but undone by pride when she was foolish enough to challenge and take on Athena, goddess of wisdom and crafts, in a weaving contest. Arachne’s tapestry depicting episodes of the gods of Olympus tricking and abusing mortals was the clear winner. An enraged Athena, furious at the overt insult to the gods, acknowledged Arachne’s superb skills but turned her into a spider for her conceit. From Arachne’s name is derived the term arachnid to which species the spider belongs.
The concluding story detailed how Rajasthan became home to the airy, feather-light ‘khat’ Kota weave. When eighteenth century Mughal army general Rao Kishore Singh, stationed in Mysuru, took home a sample of a local weaver’s moon-white, thin-as-rice-paper fabric to his wife in Rajasthan, she was so taken by the weave, that at her request, a whole community of weavers migrated to and settled in that state. Kota, also called Masuria mulmul is poetically described as conch, jasmine, full moon and cloud.
For Ranjani, the spectrum of compositions began with Carnatic kritis and travelled through an eclectic mix that included a Kabir bhajan ‘Jheeni Jheeni,’ a Rajasthani folk air ‘Kesariya Balam’ and the iconic Sufi quawwali ‘Dama Dum Mast Qalandar.’
The young, enthusiastic duo was perfectly in sync during their song-story feature, with Deeptha’s descriptive flair complementing Ranjani’s emotive singing. The rhythms of the loom have always been a reflection of the rhythms of life.
These were explored in a shared journey by the performers and listeners who bonded over myth, memories and music.
