A Rendezvous with Dastkar's Founder Laila Tyabji

When we talk about traditional crafts and art in India Laila Tyabji and Dastkar do not need any introduction. The craft designer, writer, social activist and founder & chairperson of the NGO Dastkar, has been instrumental in providing a number of opportunities to traditional rural artisans from training, design to providing professional marketing infrastructure.

The plight of the rural artisan not receiving economic gains and social acceptance has been very close to her heart. She believes it is a change in approach and attitude towards the craftspeople that can help them become better. Tyabji says, “We should be sensitive towards them and treat their art as we treat other professions.”

SheThePeople.TV spoke to the 71-year-old Padma Shri awardee on the sidelines of Tyeb Mehta Foundation’s special series of lectures to know more about her passion for art and personal and professional experiences of spending a lifetime in the industry. Some edited snippets from the interaction:

Picture Credit: Laila Tyabji/Facebook

What change have you seen in traditional craftspersons from the time you began Dastkar to now?

When we first started in 1980, we had to go to their station to pick them up, to make them stay in our homes, we had to cook food for them that they were used to. Today, they travel all over the world not only in India. It has changed in the sense that there is much more awareness. Craftspeople are travelling much more, and they are even going abroad. So their knowledge of the market and their customers have changed. They have become much savvier.

Do you see the millennial generation appreciating the beauty and diversity of our traditional textiles? How do you think we can increase the use of traditional textiles on a day-to-day basis?

I think that the ones who come in contact with the craft appreciate it because it's very different from what they see otherwise. But by and large, there's a huge divide, because today's young don't really interact with craftspeople or crafts. And they very often are not aware of this whole other world that there is. People don't grow up with the craft. You see a lot of foreign brands, most of their role models and icons are western. Even Bollywood actresses today are wearing gowns, so they are not aware of it. But my experience is that when they do see it they are completely stunned because they have no idea that these kinds of things were available.

You switched to wearing sarees exclusively at 50. There have been initiatives to promote saree wearing like the #100SareePact. What else do you think can be done to get the saree back to everyday use rather than occasion wear for the urban Indian woman?

I don't think it is realistic to say that sarees are going to be a part of everyday life because people's lives are very different now. It's sort of easy for me, I have a car, a driver, I can go around, I live in a fairly comfortable house where I have a washing machine, somewhere to put my sarees. For an average woman, this is not always possible, it needs a lot of up-keep. And one of the advantages of India is that we live with our freedom both east and west. So I'm not at all anxious to convert the whole of India into a saree wearing competition, or make them use pens instead of computers, or ask them to give up their cell phone. I myself love my gifts most, but I feel that it should be an even playing field where people can make their own choices. Today for young, college-going woman living in Bombay or Calcutta or Bangalore, for actually to go somewhere easily and buy handmade sarees is not so convenient, it's much easier to go into the malls. So I want that disparity should not be there.

One of the advantages of India is that we live with our freedom both east and west. So I'm not at all anxious to convert the whole of India into a saree wearing competition, or make them use pens instead of computers, or ask them to give up their cell phone.

You were always an iconoclast for your times, motorcycle riding in the 60s, a graphic designer, living alone in Delhi. How do you think the contemporary Indian young woman is dealing with the freedoms that the generations before them have fought for?

There are days when every generation feels that we were better than you and there are days when feel how lucky you are because you have so many opportunities. On the whole, you need to use them well. There are so many new careers than there were in my time and I think it’s very exciting. I love what young women are doing and sometimes it's interesting to see what young men are doing. Though, they don't seem to be valuing their freedom so much. For women because it is the second generation, they are still exploring everything, where men have got into their corporate jobs, and that is a success.

Read Also: Do Women Really Hesitate to Wear a Saree Today?

Has the social media revolution empowered the artisan at the grass root level in terms of accessibility and cutting out the middleman? How do you think social media can revolutionize the artisans?

It has made a huge difference. Craftspeople today are freed of that complete dependence on one local trader or one local middleman because they can through their WhatsApp or through their email, send images of their work to buyers all over the world get their responses and orders back. This morning a craftsperson sitting in Bihar  shared something that he had done and I was able to send it back in two minutes with corrections on it and saying change this or put this colour and then in three hours he sent it back and I was able to send it to the client, so the deal is done. And this was quite impossible even five years ago. So it's been a huge revelation.

Craftspeople today are freed of that complete dependence on one local trader or one local middleman because they can through their WhatsApp or through their email, send images of their work to buyers all over the world get their responses and orders back.

Picture Credit: dastkar.org

Last year, the New York Times published a piece on the saree as a symbol of religious fundamentalism. You did write a scathing riposte to that. How do you think we can erase this misconception of the saree being a garment, exclusive to one religion when in fact it has been culturally worn across regions and religions in India?

I don't think that we can single-handedly erase it. And it doesn't matter. It is so obvious that he knew nothing about it and that he had an agenda. So we get a little too agitated, the only reason I wrote a reply was not so much to him, but all the other people who were saying we should do something about it. As Indians, we should be much more confident about our own identity than we are.

As Indians, we should be much more confident about our own identity than we are.

You've chosen not to get married, in a generation where marriage was seen as essential. What is your take on marriage as an institution?

I think it's a very exciting and challenging institution but I think it’s becoming more and more complex and complicated as women become independent and want their own identities. Because two people living together whether married or unmarried, is a question of compromises and adjustments. While today's generation and mine as well, we are all about 'doing your own thing’ was the slogan, and that is almost a contradiction to marriage. I was not able to do that. I love my life and enjoy the freedoms, it is not that I ever said that I won't get married, but never saw the right time.

You've been working hands-on with rural artisans for decades. Can you tell us instances of how empowering a woman artisan has impacted her family and her children? Do you have specific initiatives to train and support women artisans and craftspersons?

The projects we do are at least three years or so of constant interaction. Obviously, these social messages are also a part of the dialogue; you are not just showing them to how to do a certain stitch or to make a certain product. You are also talking about their families, their issues, their bodies, all these things and we do address all the challenges that emerge as a part of this discussion.

As a woman dealing with craftspersons in the rural areas, did you at any point whatsoever feel that gender was a barrier in dealing with them? Or was it an advantage in terms of their willingness to listen?

I think with male artisans, there might have been resistance to think that a woman could tell them something, but that was partly modified by the fact that I came from the city and I was educated and they had been told that people from the city who are educated know all the answers, obviously I did not know all the answers, but I was able to wing it. So I didn't really face any discrimination in that way from the village artisans.

With women it was definitely an advantage to be a woman, working with them. Particularly with the Muslim caste women, which was easier to tell them things about not listening to every mad mullah that came around the corner with some fundamental message, because I was also a Muslim they were able to see or if I was saying that you have certain rights over your body and your property which is actually written in the Quran. It was easier for me to get that across because they were illiterate, so they couldn't read that for themselves and so they were very vulnerable that someone from outside was telling them that you're not allowed to that. I think I gave them the confidence, as they saw that here I was quite an independent woman who is also practising Muslim. So they were able to take it.

I think I gave them the confidence, as they saw that here I was quite an independent woman who is also practising Muslim.

It is the paradox of India, as a Muslim woman, working with tribals or Hindu artisans, they were in a way so moved, that I had come to work with them because everyone was so obsessed with religion in this country, they thought it was quite amazing that I should have come to their village although I was not part of their community. So it's a win- win all the way.

Laila Tyabji at Tyeb Mehta Foundation, PC: Tyeb Mehta Foundation

And finally, you wrote a fabulous post on turning 70 last year. In this, the age of hyper-youthfulness, where women are doing all they can to battle age, tell us about your journey to embracing ageing so gracefully?

I don't think I've ever embraced age, it has come along and I've dealt with it. I've always enjoyed whatever age it is. Actually, my whole life is played out by living for the moment. So I don't actually think was it better when I was young or how is it going to be when I'm 75 or whatever. I've just lived and enjoyed it, and I'm very thankful for that.

Read Also: Sustain: How Vandhyaa uses handicraft to improve livelihoods of rural artisans

Megha Thadani is an Intern with SheThePeople.TV

Feature Image Credit: Tyeb Mehta Foundation