Masters of Textiles- A look into the History of Textiles- a talk by Ms. Sujata Parsai.

"Have you ever wondered about the clothes you wear? That they may have a link to the past?"

This thought-provoking question by Ms. Sujata Parsai from the team of 'Flow India' set the tone for the interactive talk that followed. No doubt, not many of us had ever given much thought to such a simple yet crucial part of our lives until that moment!

There was something about Ms. Parsai which kept us transfixed to every word she spoke. Maybe it was her dulcet voice that cast a magic spell over us. She had come to share with us the vast treasure trove of information on fabrics and to provide answers to the very questions she had asked us!

Little did we know that a simple material like cotton had a prolonged and enduring history dating back to the times of the Indus Valley civilisation? Who knew that when the world was clad in shades of greys and dull whites, we Indians were already appreciating a vibrant hue of colours, red, yellow and such. Or that India was exporting cotton fabrics to south-east Asia even as far back as the 1st and 2nd centuries?

Textiles gave India an identity, fame, name and wealth in medieval times. But the humble 'cloth' also brought great woes in its wake. We have heard of the great Kalinga war and its cathartic effect on Ashoka. But not many people know that the cause of the bloodshed was Kalingas wealth from its export of cloth to Indonesia! This wealth tantalised the great samrat who then declared warfare on Kalinga.

Talking of the British, we know that they originally came as traders around Jahangirs time. To their extreme misfortune they did not find an adequate variety of spices that hey had hoped to find in India. So they moved east towards Indonesia. There they found spices but the people were not willing to trade in gold. Their wealth was in the extremely fine Indian cloth! So the British traded their gold for the cloth and the cloth for the spices. But they became greedy and wanted to take control. So, that is exactly what they did, slowly and cleverly, they transformed from traders to conquerors.

Ms. Parsai concluded her talk on leaving us thirsting to know more. We were like parched travellers in an oasis! But, all good things have to come to an end and so did our extremely informative and interactive session. Ms. Parsai fielded our questions adroitly and answered each one of them with erudition.

We are extremely grateful to School for providing us such an amazing opportunity.

Surabhi Sanghi, XI - C.