CONVERSATIONS OF EMBROIDERER’S HAND MUDRAS AND THE THREAD

Craft is immortalised by hands and it draws an association with processes it is involved in. The artisan’s soul initiates a dialogue with the material with the act of the hand. A question that occurs to me often is there a relationship between craftsmanship and sensitivity in conversation of the hands. Since the phase of learning embroidery and during the participatory research this thought had stayed with me.

The sensitivity of ring finger as it tenderly draws thread away from the fabric. Is it a Hasta Mudra to which thread taps its feet ‘Adavus’ or is it just my illusion? Nevertheless, observations of seasoned chikankari artisans gave me assurances that sensitivity is core to it and this compassion is found in dance. Its not just the act of hand but a personal conversation that thread and artisan have where hand is a facilitator. Not being a dance professional there might have been some liberties that I have taken but the essence of dialogue through Hasta Mudra, is essentially what forms the beginning point from where this journey will continue for days to come.

Chikankari embroidery is but a performance on dialogues: a Dastangoi or a Kathak, whereby cloth becomes the stage and needle, thread are the props. The stage opens with drawing of a strand of yarn from a skein of ‘kachha dhaga’ an art that many artisans miss to comprehend. Its an act of separation, an act of unnerving the balance of skein but delicate enough not to become an act of wrecking. The view of hands as the yarn would visualise it is a delicate embrace between middle finger, ring finger and thumb of both hands. Resembling a Samyutha Hasta mudra Tamarachooda, signifying a rooster, a beginning, a new dawn of hope and creation. As the sorting progresses index finger and thumb of the same hand that embraced it rise to separate a pair of yarn strand.

The hand now crosses and takes the form of Bherunda- pair of birds, before it draws them separately. The pointer finger presses the thumb of both hands in crossed position.

Observing Shabbo perform this mudra without any reference to any form of dance does it so skilfully as I ponder, is this the story that expressed in the motif they created during design education programme. A pair of peacocks that we have been calling bherunda since years and making innumerable variants with same passion. Probably an act of separation comes back into pairing them in the motif least if we don’t embroidery in itself as an act of interlacing and combining.

The drawn thread is delicately smoothed out like holding it between index finger and thumb while other fingers are spread outward. The mudra represented is of Aralam- a petal, if it were to be an anecdote of smoothened yarn it would certainly be represented through petal of rose.

Passing through the needle the artisan holds the embroidery frame in Mukulam mudra or like a bud, the act of blossoming is about to start. All fingers come together under the fabric while thumb is on face side with only a thin textile layer separating them. The needle now leads the yarn through the fabric and suddenly on sees the index finger pressing against thumb to represent Kapitham- custard apple. From the delicacy of a petal with as the tool changes to needle so does the hand start to demonstrate intensity, that it needs while piercing through fabric to direct the thread.

The thread is drawn out of fabric to be reinserted after a pause. The gesture that hand makes while flying away from fabric in this act is of a bee or bhramara mudra. The pressure of index finger on thumb in Kapitham changes to slight curling of index finger between middle finger and thumb, whilst the movement of ring finger draws the thread away from the needle. The desire to fly to places, desire to grow is what the artisan may be conversing with the thread. It is a conversation of two friends who don’t needs a language to do so, their heart and hands do the job aptly.

Withdrawn from the world of activity I engrossed myself in this act of dance and dialogue when it just struck me, is the melody of music missing in this performance. Numerous times, I asked people if there were any folk songs women used to sing while embroidering chikan, I came across none, or maybe it’s a died much before the present generation entered into the arena of embroidery. But then I remembered the saying of Baba Nanak that whole universe in in an act of singing in worship of lord, from chirping of birds, breeze. Shakespeare put the context right “The earth has music for those who listen.” Lost in the music of nature the melody now seems to me in the harmony of hand and thread. The sight of women embroidering in charpoi (cot) on a sunny day with music of nature playing around them. A mudra that is so personal to artisan that they never created a disciplined scheme of it and that’s the beauty of craft.

I trust that it leaves us with a thought that embroidery is not just surface adornment if one wishes to consider melodious dialogue it gives to the ears.