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Special Feature
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The whole nine green yards
A weaver in Anakaputhur near Chennai makes sarees out of alternate natural fibers.
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 Finding Shekhar’s house cum factory in Anakaputhur is not difficult. Just a query about this “maker of sarees from banana fiber” is enough to get us specific directions, right down to the last turn. Tucked behind a few shops lies his dilapidated rented one-room factory-house and the only way to reach it is a narrow pathway with an open sewer running along. When we entered the asbestos-roofed room, Shekhar, the unconventional saree weaver was swinging cotton threads in a hand charkha.
Shekhar uses banana, jute, pineapple, flax, aloe vera, bamboo, reed grass etc to make sarees. “These raw materials are put in water and finally the fiber is extracted. This is a time consuming job when compared to normal weaving process. The recovered grass is made into yarn and dyed before making it run in the handlooms. Normally we mix silk and cotton along with the natural fibers,” he explains. Shekhar started making use of non-conventional fibers three years ago, even employing 24 fibers in a single saree. He used banana fibers widely. Recently he turned to aloe vera. The price ranges in the Rs 650-4500 bracket and varies as per the percentage of silk used.
Admiring some of his banana and aloe vera fiber creations, one realised they looked quite like ordinary silk sarees in beautiful colour combinations, though they weigh much lighter. In the last two years, he has sold two thousand banana sarees and 600 aloe vera sarees…
VIP patrons of his art include First Lady Pratibha Patil, and Kanimozhi, MP and daughter of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister. “A saree has also been presented to Sonia madam, but I don’t know if she wears it,” adds Shekhar.
But, why the choice of these unconventional fibers?
Anakaputhur has been the hub of traditional handloom weavers, but like most other cottage industries, they lost their business to mechanisation. “Earlier, three thousand handlooms were running, but now just over three hundred remain. Many of our folks have opted for daily wages in construction jobs…
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 Handloom is no longer a lucrative business, but I don’t know of any other vocation. I tried to be different and experimented with these alternate fibers, says Shekhar, who hails from a family of Telugu-speaking Chettiars – weavers for generations. He also claims the medicinal properties of the natural fibers prove to be healthy too, e.g aloe vera for the skin.
Shekhar sells his sarees in Chennai and Bangalore. “Recently I got orders from Delhi, but I couldn’t accept it as I don’t have enough manpower.” Even though many government officials have visited this place, no government support has come through for him or the thirty odd families involved in it. “This could be developed into good business with government aid. It could benefit the agricultural workers too for they’ll get to supply raw materials. Besides, these sarees are eco-friendly,” he reminds.
But what about durability of the sarees? “Better than silk sarees... No one has complained yet,” states Shekhar.
As Shekhar plans to extend his repertoire to include shirts, he hopes to get the attention he deserves. Meanwhile, pointing at the four women spinning away at their respective handlooms, he said, “This is women’s empowerment too. But no one is listening,” laments Shekhar. With the landlord hankering him to vacate the current premises with his wife and children before month end, his list of woes only seems to get longer.
As the heat under the asbestos roofing became unbearable, I left after placing an order for an aloe vera saree. It was the least that could be done…
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