For lifestyle writers, travelling to new places for work happens ever so often. We are not complaining, but after a point, it becomes such a monotonous routine that you hardly have experiences that cut through the saturation and make you feel alive. Our recent trip to a textile hub in Nuapatna, a town in Cuttack district of Odisha, courtesy of the new slow fashion label Boito, was therefore a much-needed break.
When we set out of our hotel in Bhubaneswar to go to Nuapatna, the first thing we noticed about Odisha was how different the vibe was from most other Indian cities. It was already winter and the nip in the air was quilted in a thin layer of comfortable humidity. The traffic sailed as smooth as a glass of dessert wine would after a hearty dinner. Walls across the city were adorned with colourful murals — from floral designs to the traditional jhoti chita alpona (traditional rangoli design seen across the state). And with most shopkeepers closing business for a two-hour siesta every afternoon, Odisha seemed to move at a steady-but-slow pace of its own.
We reached Nuapatna almost two hours later. Why Nuapatna? Well, this village is known for its silk and cotton single-ikat (weft-ikat) textiles and forms a craft pocket that Boito sources indigenous khandua textiles from. Speaking about Boito, it is a label that has emerged from founder Richa Maheshwari’s love affair with Odisha’s indigenous textiles that are leisurely woven using heritage techniques and her desire to honour its legacy. To this effect, Boito uses raw textile pieces woven by the artisans to create high-end, contemporary silhouettes. Richa took over as our host for the day to take us through how these textiles are produced — right from the silk cocoons to the final product.
We got down from our cars and navigated our way through a herd of grazing cows on the road into the home of an artisan. One brief tour of the house and you realise that even the architecture was made keeping in mind the business. On entering the house, we saw an enormous handloom and a weaver drawing warps and wefts almost in a meditative state — the floor has a vacant space to accommodate the handloom. The room gave way to the narrow passage by a designated washing space, where the thread was being dyed.
Walking past the kitchen with women making lunch and smiling at us curiously, we entered a courtyard where two women sat with a handful of mulberry silk cocoons, spinning raw silk out of them using a hand spinner. In the backyards of some houses were designated spaces where the dyed threads were hung horizontally, to dry in the sun. Our co-host and master-dyer Lakshmidhar also showed us the natural colours made out of palash (forest fire tree) and marigold flowers, which are used to dye the fabric.
What also caught our attention were these pretty, white alponas (kolam-like decorations) on the floors and the decorative art across walls of the houses. Interestingly, every house that has had a wedding in the recent past, had specially painted the facades of the houses in pop colours like pink and green and also had the names of the bride and groom written in intricate typography! Strolling across the village, we also discovered a white temple-like structure in the middle of a pond. Lakshmidhar told us, “Legend goes that Lord Krishna and Radha took the seven holy rounds of their wedding around that temple on a full moon night. Every year, on the same day, we have a festival where all the children of the village come near the bank of the pond with wooden animal toys, as part of the divine-couple’s wedding procession. The village is decked up with diyas and lights.”
How can a trip in Odisha conclude without good food? Several weavers and artisans had taken the morning off to cook an authentic Odia lunch for us. And we were overwhelmed not just by their warm gesture but also by the deliciousness of the food. Rice, puri, mushroom curry, fried vegetables, lentil soup, roasted aubergine along with salad — the spread was extensive and scrumptious to say the least. As we finished the hearty meal and headed back to Bhubaneswar, past the passing paddy fields and eerily beautiful Mahanadi, the waving tree trunks of Nuapatna made us feel homesick. And we can not wait to go back.
Email: prattusa@newindianexpress.com
Twitter: @MallikPrattusa