BY GAGAN BHALLA

Women in Rajasthan have been confined to home and ‘ghungat’ for years. By using their skills in gota work, however, they now have their own source of income.

WOMEN constitute about 48% of the population in India, but their participation in economic activity accounts for only 34%. There is also a continuing concentration of women in low paid and low status occupations, which indicates that women are marginalised in the labour force. There is a common assumption that men are the breadwinners and that most work done by women is either done in their leisure time or they serve merely as procurers of supporting income for the family.

It is believed that economic strength is the basis of social, political and psychological power in society. Thus, the lower status of women mostly stems from their low economic status and subsequent dependence as well as lack of decision-making power. Therefore, if women gain economic strength, they gain visibility and voice.

CHANGING STATUS

VEILED WORKER: A woman in ghungat embossing a print
on ribbon before it is attached to a garment.

SINCE the turn of the century, the status of women in India has been changing due to growing industrialisation and urbanisation, spatial mobility and social legislation. Over the years, the number of women for higher, technical and professional education as well as their proportion in the labour force has also increased. With the spread of education and awareness, women have shifted from the kitchen, handicrafts and traditional cottage industries to non traditional, higher levels of economic and business activity. During the 1970s, the decade of the international women’s movement to promote self-employment among women, female labour as well as entrepreneurs received greater attention from the government and private agencies. The new industrial policy of the Government of India has laid special emphasis on the need for conducting special entrepreneurial training programmes for women to enable them to start their own ventures.

A series of factors, including literacy and education, language, time, cost, geographical location of facilities, social and cultural women and women’s skills, constrain women’s access to the fashion industry. In developing countries, there is a great deal of variation in the percentage of women working. There are indications that young women in developing countries are not as affected by attitudes that the fashion industry is not an attractive field to enter. And in traditional Rajasthan, women now play a major role in the fashion industry through their gota work.

EXCEPTIONAL

THE traditional gota craft is a tribute to the exceptional skills of the craftswomen of Rajasthan. Dexterous hands turn out a range of items which can create complicated motifs, churned in perfect synchronisation, giving computerised and fine stylised embroiders a run for their money. Embroidered motifs, which are carved on silk, crepe, georgette or satin symbolising auspiciousness and prosperity and easily billow in the wind, need to be worked upon with great concentration.

AESTHETIC SPIN: A female worker weaving a ribbon on a
‘chakri’. Women are paid 10 paise per chakri.

If there is any embroidery which is subtle and possesses a royal aura, it is gota work. It can form a part of every woman’s elegant ensemble in India, be it formal or informal creations for summer or winter. Resplendent in pastels of every hue, gota work done on cotton fabrics stand out, though it is also found on a host of fabrics today. Whatever be the origins, what cannot be denied is the sheer beauty of the stitch and effect, which is well appreciated.

The process of creating gota work is quite interesting. The motifs are designed and then drawn on paper. Using a needle, the borders of the motif are “pricked”. Charcoal powder is then put over the perforated holes and that is how the design is transferred onto the fabric, which is firmly attached to a frame. Then, according to the shape and size of the traced motifs, the gota is cut, prepared and placed on the fabric. Using matching threads, a flat appearance is given to the gota design through running, back or hem stitch.

DEFINITIVE STYLE

GOTA work for saris, kurtas, salwars, stoles, dupattas, jackets, lehnga chunni, jhootis, cushion covers, bed covers, purses, bags, pouches, toran, file folders etc. Gota is given a more definitive style when it is combined with beads, sequence, kundan, zardozi, mirrors or makkaish. Today, designers are experimenting with gota for couture and prêt on almost all kinds of fabric like georgette, chiffon, tussar silk, velvet, crepe, bandhani, cotton voile, etc.

PROCESSING: Threads used for gota work are coloured
and processed to suit the manufacturers needs

From times immemorial, golden, silver, copper and coloured forms of gota have been used for embroidery. However, in the recent past, gota work existed only in golden and silver. Thereafter, the recent coloured forms of gota and antique gota are also available in the market. Also motifs were made using only geometrical designs, but the shape and size of the work now varies. Formerly, designs comprised of peacock, paisley and floral motifs whereas, in recent years, it has changed to large designs of lotus flowers, patti and butties, which are available in the market on different fabrics.

Motifs can be birds, stylised animals, human figures, geometrical designs and flowers. Floral motifs include gamla, paan ka phool, jaliwala phool, kali ka phool and star phool. Bird and animal motifs are various styles of peacock, sparrow, elephant and horse. Other motifs include various types of kairi motif, human figures and palanquins. Presently these motifs are stylised with use of glossy salma sitara sequins. They are organised into an overall pattern, spot patterns, borders and bands on different traditional articles.

Rajasthan’s gota work is one of the few ‘hand crafts’ which has thrived and survived the onslaught of modernity. In spite of new innovations in the fashion world, gota has managed to retain its edge. This is the result of constant innovation and introduction of new designs and styles by designers, government bodies, NGO and co-operatives. Financial institutions and banks have also set up special cells to assist women entrepreneurs. The result has been the emergence of women entrepreneurs on the economic scene in Rajasthan, though the number of enterprises initiated by women is still quite low.

This article is part of Gagan Bhalla’s Ph.D thesis on “Dynamics of Gota work and the emergence of women’s entrepreneurship” under the guidance of Dr. Vijaya Lunia of Jai Narayan Vyas University in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Gagan is currently teaching at Sri Sathya Sai P.G. College in Jaipur.