Indian pandal (marriage canopy) |
Susan
Oleksiw writes the Anita Ray series, set in South India, and the Chief Joe
Silva/Mellingham series, set in a coastal New England town. Her stories have
appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and numerous anthologies. Learn more about
Susan and her books at her website.
One of the pleasures of
setting stories in India is thinking about the artwork and the crafts. I have
always enjoyed handwork, and India has some of the finest examples of this in
terms of fabric and embroidery. A common item is the pandal (shown above), or marriage canopy under which the ceremony is conducted.
The canopy is decorated with various images in crewel stitching, and one piece
can be both hand-stitched and machine stitched. My example is from Rajasthan.
Sozni (satin) stitching |
My grandmother gave me a
small scarf, really a shoulder scarf, to be worn under a jacket. This is pure
Kashmiri wool with a pattern embroidered on one side. This kind of stitching is
called sozni, or satin stitch. My
grandmother gave me this when I was in college, and I've carried it with me over
the years. I have rarely worn it because I recognized when I received it that
it was already an antique. It's now probably 140 years old. This stitch is most
often found on shawls today sold throughout India and for export.
At one time royal families
would commission an entire dress or outfit to be covered in this stitch. The
project could take years, and an artisan often made only one in his lifetime. I
read years ago that the British were so disturbed that these artisans ended up
blind from the close work that they prohibited the making of these outfits.
I've seen them on display during textile exhibits in museums, and the stitches
are tiny and the patterns intricate, covering every inch of fabric.
Dorukha style stitching |
I treasure another item
passed down to me from my grandmother. This Kashmiri shawl is embroidered in
the dorukha style, which means the
embroidered pattern is double sided. The same pattern appears on both sides in
the same or different colored threads. One side is done in red and pink, and
the reverse is done in blue. This work is done by hand; it is not woven into
the fabric. Embroidering something like this can take a year, and covering an
entire shawl in this style can take three years and cost the same as a car. Not
many artisans remain who are willing and able to do the work, and few can find
younger people to train. This is a dying art, unfortunately.
Test of a true pashmina shawl |
One of my first discoveries
in India was about pashmina wool. Today I see ads for pashmina wool shawls, but
I know they're fake, though even the sellers may not know that. When I wanted
to buy a light shawl in Delhi, the seller brought out several but he said I
should buy a real pashmina shawl while I had the chance. Did I know how to
identify a real pashmina shawl? I did not. So he showed me. A real pashmina
shawl will slide through a wedding ring, and the one he offered me did just
that. I bought it. It's the only plain shawl I own, but I treasure it. It's as
light as a summer breeze.
Anita Ray, the
Indian-American photographer in my mystery series, wears cotton dupattas, or long stoles that go with
the salwar khameez sets that she wears. She can drape them over her head on a
sunny day to block out the sun, or over her shoulders in a cool evening breeze.
When Krishna Calls
An Anita Ray Mystery
In the glorious
beauty of a tropical night, a young woman abandons her daughter in the Hotel
Delite compound and flees into the darkness. In the morning Anita Ray
recognizes the child as the daughter of an employee, but before she can track
her down, the police arrive at the hotel looking for her. She is the main
suspect in the stabbing death of her husband. This seems impossible to Anita,
but so does the discovery that Nisha and her husband were involved with
unscrupulous moneylenders from their family's village.
Anita is
ready to let the police do their work as she prepares for a one-woman
photography show in a prestigious gallery, but fate conspires against her. An
accident wrecks her schedule as well as her car. She sets up her camera for one
last shot, but it fails to work. When she inspects the camera she finds a piece
of paper wrapped around the batteries and someone else's memory card inside.
Whether she
likes it or not, Anita is drawn into the frantic search for a young mother and
the murky world of moneylenders and debts of honor, a hidden corner of life in
South India.
When Krishna Calls asks how far will a woman go for love
and family? Anita Ray thinks she knows how Nisha would answer, but before it is
all over Anita must also answer that question. How far will she go to protect
her family and her home?
9 comments:
Lois, Thank you for hosting me today, and giving me the chance to talk about Indian embroidery. Although I've done a lot of handwork, including embroidery, my work has never risen to this level of skill. I remain in awe of these artisans.
Mine either, Susan. I'd go blind!
What beautiful work! I love any kind of handwork anyway and the colors in this are just lovely.
Thanks, Kathleen. The shawls are so beautiful that I want to wear them but I'm worried I'll damage them. There are a few spots on them but I don't dare have them cleaned either. So I'm left to admire them and share their beauty with others through photographs. Thanks for commenting.
Oh my goodness, how beautiful!
I admire such talent...especially since I have absolutely zero in that particular art LOL!
Great post.
Good luck and God's blessings
PamT
I enjoyed reading this post and seeing this lovely handiwork. Wonderful family treasures. And I also love your exotic mystery novels set in India.
Thanks, Pam and Jacquie. I'll never produce anything as beautiful as that needlework, but I'll keep writing the Anita Ray series. Thank you both for commenting.
The book sounds absolutely fascinating, and the embroidery you showed is beautiful. I did some needlework when I was in my twenties but nothing as delicate as what you have here. I know how much I labored over my stitches and can't begin to imagine what doing those designs would entail.
Thanks, Maris. Yes, I too tried embroidery but was never able to come close to the intricate work of Indian artists. Thanks for commenting.
Post a Comment