Ahir embroidery :
Buried tales…
You visit ahir community homes and these colorful vibes invite you. Among other interesting talks, I came to know about their embroidery pattern style in different age groups.
Do you know that as old as a 6 days old newborn kid is made to wear an embroidered garment so that he grows up amid such cultural surrounding and tradition. However the embroidery doesn’t tend to be heavy but bright and colorful . Little girls upper garment known as ‘Kanchli’ too tends to be bright colourful and include many cultural motifs such as elephant parrors, sparrows, diff flowers, milkmaid and Lord Krishna who is also their deity. Girls at this age learn to embroider their own garments. They literally play with thread and needle…
As they grow ‘Kanchli’ too tend to change the embroidery pattern which is still bright n catchy but without tucks in chest. On the other hand, married women (that they proudly call themselves as “Ahirani’) wear kanchli with tucks in the chest (as she said boldly, ‘I am taken and no other man can raise eyes’) and embroidery tend to be lesser than before. You ask them the reason for this and a sharp loud laughter comes out with a bold voice – ‘family comes first sister. If we keep doing embroidery, when we will do household chores and feed family? ‘ and somehow my conventional roots took over and I agreed.
Interestingly, as women age here, their kanchli leaves little to no embroidery and as again the beautiful and simple explanation is that women have carried so much of weight their whole life , be it strict parenthood or responsibilities post marriage or holding the family under one roof – so at least embroidery shouldn’t be one of them..
As I leave their house contemplating my time spent there, I see a bullock in the backyard with a decorative ahir embroidery thick cloth on its back. They say it a ‘Jhul’ or ‘ pachhitpavdi’ that they use during ceremony and festivals.
As I think back of that time, a momentary smile appears on my lips. How vast and rich my culture is and so is their embroidery.
So many tales and myths unwind in beautiful and logical ways…