A stitch in time can change lives. This perhaps sums up the story of Sepavat Angoori, who was honoured by the Crafts Council of Telangana (CCT) on Friday, for her role in spreading Banjara needle craft.
Banjara needle work is not exotic by itself, but is the cut, craft and the ideas picked from nature that make it so different. Before itsy-bitsy blouses showing décolletage or open back blouses became fashion statements in urban areas, Banjara women were stitching and wearing them. It was this nifty needle work that incorporated mirrors and shells that drew the attention of the Crafts Council officials to Sepavat Angoori, then a 17-year-old married girl with a daughter, in Yellamma tanda (hamlet), Ibrahimpatnam taluk.
Thirty years down the line, it is a different Angoori who received the honour. “I was involved in farm work, herding cows, drawing water from the well when I was approached by the women from the Crafts Council who wanted to know about my stitching work. I had learnt from my grandmother and mother to stitch the clothes I wore and I showed them the work,” says Angoori. “Then they wanted to know the various patterns we used and their names. I told them about rela, teka, malikanth, gauder, border etc. and also how we did it,” she says.
This marked the beginning of friendship that has continued to the day between the Crafts Council members and Angoori. Not limited to practicing her craft, she has trained dozens of women in the intricate needlework over the past 30 years. “I have held classes for foreigners in Mumbai, I have taught in Delhi, and various parts of the country. All that wouldn’t have happened if I stuck to farm work,” she says.
Officials of the Crafts Council vouch for that. “She is very receptive to the ideas given by us and she is dedicated. Others lose interest and don’t spend enough time. But she creates her own works and also teaches others. That’s what makes her special,” says Meenakshi Katragadda, who is responsible for the Banjara needlework team at CCT. Visitors at the crafts exhibition oohed and aahed when they spotted dragonflies crafted on a piece of cloth by Angoori.
The social change brought about by Angoori can be seen in her native hamlet where 200 women now practice the craft on a commercial scale. “They learn easily and they carry their work with them. Even if they are herding cows or sheep, they will be stitching and creating some design or the other,” she says with confidence.
