Weavers of Erode’s 1010 Colony, with help from C Sivagurunathan’s Nurpu initiative, are tiding over the pandemic by weaving unbleached cradle cloths for newborns in breathable, sturdy cotton
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Hooded towel |
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A cradle set |
“People were not buying clothes as much, and I, too, faced a stagnant situation sales-wise. For a start, we thought of weaving cradle cloths and wraps for newborns,” says 33-year-old Sivagurunathan, speaking over phone from Erode. He designed the cloth as a four-metre-long, breathable yet sturdy fabric of unbleached cotton that can be readily converted into cradle. He paired it with a thicker swaddle cloth, that comes with a tiny hoodie, and a handcrafted teak wood separator that, traditionally, was positioned in between the cradle to let air in.
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Cradle cloth |
To kickstart the initiative, Sivagurunathan took the crowdfunding route. “The idea is to give away 100 sets for free, to babies born in Government hospitals. We have got enough funding for 40 so far, and our weavers are on the job, working six to seven hours a day,” he says, adding that around six families in the colony are working with him at present.
The sudden spurt of activity has the weavers energised. “All they want is some work on their hands to keep them going,” Sivagurunathan feels.
The cradle cloth kits come in thick cardboard boxes, hand-made by visually-impaired artisans who are also from Erode. “The wooden separators too are locally-produced,” explains Sivagurunathan. Meanwhile, orders from friends who want to gift the sets have started coming in. So things are looking up for the weavers of 1010 Colony, who are working to the rhythmic clackety-clack of the hand-loom to produce around five metres of the precious cloth a day, as you read this. Says Sivagurunathan, “We hope that through the new-born, the message of our home-grown handloom reaches parents too.”
A box with a four metre-long cradle cloth, a one metre-long swaddle cloth, and a teak wood separator is priced at ₹1,100. For details, visit http://www.nurpu.in/.
Source: The Hindu
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