'Naturally Anuradha' boutique of organic handloom products opened in Guwahati

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Naturally Anuradha, a boutique of exclusive and exquisite organic dyed handloom products of Assam by craftsperson Anuradha Kuli, was inaugurated by State Chief Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna at a hotel in Guwahati on Saturday.

Atika Sultana, secretary of Handloom Textile and Sericulture Department, social activist Bobbeeta Sharma and Geetima Das Krishna, a renowned economist, Queen Ojha, Member of Parliament, Juri Doley, CEO of Zila Parisad and Gaurav Bothra and others were present on the occasion.

Anuradha Kuli was born in a farmer's family in a remote village in the North Bank of the Brahmaputra. From early childhood she was familiar with weaving like all other girls of their village and her mother was widely reputed in the surrounding areas as an expert in making 'mirizim' – from the age of eight she could spin & weave all traditional fabric. In the year 1991 she was selected for a training course as a "training demonstrator" and after completing her one-year training she purchased 3 looms and started her own weaving business at Dhemaji.

After her marriage also she was pursuing her weaving career and in 1998 she was offered a job in the Sericulture Department of Assam and she came in direct touch of Aditi Ranjan, a professor from NID, Gujarat who was in Guwahati in an UNDP-sponsored project and Nandini Dutta, chairperson of Craft Council have helped her developing her knowledge of contemporary textile designs and creation of niche organic textile products manufactured from totally organic components in each stage.

Her husband Malaya Kumar Pegu and her two daughters were a constant support to make her venture a success. Her husband had assisted her in various exhibitions and felicitations across the country and abroad, to the extent of neglecting his own business, seeing the fostering involvement of such lady dignitaries like former MPs Soniya Gandhi, Jaya Bachchan, Kiran Anupam Kher, Ratna Krishnakumar, Bharti Ganeshan, actor Vidya Balan in her venture.

Design aspects of her collections include products like sarees, mekhela chadar, dupattas, scarves, stoles, cushion covers, blouse pieces, etc of various mixed fabrics comprising of Endi silk, muga silk, nuni silk, spun silk and pure cotton as per the product specifications of each item. All the threads are 100% vegetable dyed (raw materials such as turmeric, lac, iron, harda, manjishta etc are used).

Anuradha Kuli quoted, "My holistic approach in living every facet of our lives organically in terms of our surroundings, food, wellness keeps me inspired to innovate better organically treated textile products like in house spinning of the fabric and processing of the natural dyes to keep my products purely organic to the satisfaction of my niche organic customers who bestow me the reward of the immense inner joy when they exhibit their satisfaction about my products."

In future she intends to start a society for training and incubation of small groups of economically weak sections of women from villages or urban slums to start their own sustainable business ventures, to be financially independent in life across our state and other areas of north-eastern states where traditional weaving of fabric still exists.

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