Sabita Radhakrishna has donned many hats — writer, author, playwright, food researcher, TV show host, textile designer and craft activist — and is a well-known face in Chennai. “I have authored four cook books, and written a play, Song of the Loom and many articles, but my latest book, The Looms of Arivoor , is closest to my heart,” says Sabita, flashing an effervescent smile. This book, she says, has been inspired by her experiences and interactions with weavers, from the point of view of a textile revivalist, research scholar and designer.
“I have travelled across the country to various pockets of weaving clusters for nearly 40 years, and have closely witnessed the trials and tribulations, penury and struggle faced by traditional craftsmen. All they know is weaving, and it is a pity that they no longer want the next generation to take up weaving,” she says.
The novel’s protagonist is a civil servant, an idealist of highest standards, who has a lifelong friendship with a master weaver with extraordinary weaving skills. But he is under pressure to form a cooperative and weave as per government requirements. “It narrates the friendship between an IAS officer (Tilak) and weaver (Kulasekhara), how their positions create some tension in their relationship. I have also brought in their respective families to make it more interesting. I use this narration to highlight the tension faced by artisan weavers, who are often illiterate and unaware of the value of their art,” the author says. The novel is set in the fictional town of Arivoor, and documents how tragedy overtakes their lives and how the craft begins to languish.
Sabita pioneered the concept of boutiques in the city way back in 1978, by launching her store Amrapali (which shut down after 25 years) at Fountain Plaza. “It was my way of helping weavers with whom I worked closely. I also had my own block printing unit then and popularised handlooms with block printing. I was supplying 500 saris a month those days to Co-optex, as I wanted to reach out to women. For almost five decades, I have in my own way, made sure handlooms thrived, by involving myself in various handloom-related activities and marketing my designs,” she says. The researcher has revived and reinvented the Kodali karuppur sari by working with weavers at Kalakshetra. It was her late husband, Radhakrishna, who urged her to write a novel so that it will remain a document, a kind of record, and reach more readers around the globe and create awareness.
- The Looms of Arivoor , (Big Foot Publications, ₹225), will be launched on December 21, 10.30 am by P Shankar IAS (retd) and Usha Krishna, past president of World Crafts Council, will receive the copy.
- PC Ramakrishna of The Madras Players will be reading extracts from the book on the day. Some of the master weavers who inspired the author will also be present for audience interaction and will also showcase their saris.
- The event is at the Madras Literary Society, Nungambakkam, Chennai. For details, call: 28279666.
Her play, Song of the Loom , was staged by The Madras Players in 2008. “Though the play was widely appreciated, we did not have the funding to stage it in other cities. Which is why I decided to write this novel. I only hope that it brings some awareness in the minds of readers who take textiles for granted. The book must make the public respect the weaving community and come forward to buy handlooms and appreciate it by wearing them. Even though there are many NGOs working to uplift the community, it is the government that can make a significant impact by coming up with measures and schemes to make sure that art does not languish, and enable a better lifestyle for them,” Sabita concludes.
