Keralites adorn traditional attire at Saree Walkathon London: KALA members to buy settu mundu from Kerala weavers

By A Staff Reporter

LONDON Aug 8: Hundreds of Indian-origin women draped in sarees from different states in India walked down the streets of central London on Sunday in celebration of National Handloom Day.

The Saree Walkathon coordinated by the British Women in Sarees group began their colourful march at Trafalgar Square and concluded at the Mahatma Gandhi statue at Parliament Square after some singing-dancing stops along the way on Whitehall near Downing Street.

The women, representing the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Delhi, among others, chanted patriotic slogans along the kilometre-long route and ended their walkathon with the National Anthem.

The Kerala team was coordinated and led by Dr Hema Santhosh, Dr Deepa Hedge and Shirley Gibson.

“As ambassadors of this movement, we feel grateful that we have gained immense success with our early efforts in bringing the limelight for the artists and weavers and putting their wearable art on a pedestal where everyone is curious to know more about them,” said Dr Hema Santhosh, one of the coordinators for Kerala.

“But we intend to achieve more. We intend to identify handloom clusters in India, in need of help and lend them our support. We intend to raise awareness among all about our handlooms, their history and the art behind it. This peaceful Saree Walkathon of ours is another initiative to make this possible,” she said.

The over 500 women marching in traditional drapes attracted the attention of tourists and onlookers as they chanted slogans such as “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and “Vande Mataram”.

From garba and dandiya to Bollywood beats, they also got many passers-by to join in their enthusiastic celebrations.

“The British Women in Sarees is a group of empowered women who take pride in flaunting handloom sarees and representing the unique cultural melting pot that is India. It is a not-for-profit organisation which likes to organise events to promote our national heritage and make everyone around the world aware of the toil, handwork and artistry which goes behind weaving each of these masterpieces,” said Dr Dipti Jain.

National Handloom Day is marked annually on August 7 as a tribute to the handloom-weaving community of India and highlights the contribution of this sector to the socio-economic development of the country.

The date connects with the independence struggle when Mahatma Gandhi launched the Swadeshi Movement in 1905 to encourage indigenous industries and in particular handloom weavers.

KALA representation at Saree Walkathon in London

The day started with walkathon members from different parts of UK arriving at the north terrace of Trafalgar Square in London.

They were soon joined by members of KALA (Kerala Arts and Literary Association), to show support for the Kerala team.

They were promoting the Kerala kaithari by wearing the settu mundu and Kerala sarees. Adorned with jasmine garlands in their hair the walkathon was nostalgic of a celebration in Kerala.

Young volunteers including the Kala youth helped with holding placards and being traffic marshals.

A team of men clad in traditional Kerala mundu and jubba attire too turned up to support their female counterparts to make it a momenotus occasiosn.

KALA Men’s team included Patron Dr Sukumaran Nair, KALA president Dr Nanu and founder members of KALA Natarajan, Dr Baburaj, Santosh Pillai, Sreeprakash Pillai alongwith other executive members. Whereas the ladies of Kala including Dr Sethulakshmy, Geetha and other members wore Kerala saree or settu mundu, all from their traditional handloom collection. They merged as a sea of cream colour strengthening the Kerala team.

The group paraded the streets singing Vanchippattu and belting AAARPO along the journey to 10 Downing Street. Here the team performed to Kashmir se Kanyakumari as whole Indian unit attracting the attention of London. They also danced as part of South Zone to Tum tum and nattu nattu.

Next was the short walk to the Parliament Square. Here the group sang national anthem and offered prayers to Mahatma Gandhi with the bhajan vaishnav jan to. The dancers included Dr Anitha Sethu (Mohiniyattom) a KALA member and Manaswini Pillai (Bharathanatyam) and Vaishali Puri (Kathak)

Attendees from different states gave individual performaces and the Kerala team danced to the tune of Kuttanadan Punchayile and evoked a rousing response from the crowd.

In addition to participating in glamour and enthusiasm on the day the Kerala team helped BWIS to identify and highlight information and needs for the Karimpuzha weavers form Palakkad in Kerala as ones who needed financial help.

Dr Hema Santhosh communicated with the Karimpuzha weavers to get an understanding of their living and working conditions. Awareness was created through posts on BWIS facebook page by Dr Dipti Jain alongside various Malayalee whatsap group messages and other social media.

Dr Jain since, reported increase in enquiries for placing orders for settu mundu directly through weavers.

Kala ex-president Prof Gopal Netuveli’s message to its members to buy a sett mundu this Onam and help the weavers cause was well received with members pledging their support to this cause. The members have been extremely generous with their gestures to help the weavers.

The videos and write-ups by Dr Hema Santhosh about Renjitha from the Karimpuzha weaving group was very helpful to BWIS and they have been rightly identified as needing financial assistance.