Knotting her way to success

BUSINESSWOMEN OF GUJARAT/ Chandrika Bhayani

Her work reflects the spirit and tradition of Saurashtra. It is in the intricate knots that you can spot the hard work that goes into creating bandhni textiles.

Meet Chandrika Bhayani, a master artisan and a successful business woman, who runs a clothes store, Utsav Creation, in Jamnagar.

Bhayani retails bandhni textiles and has a turnover of Rs 12 lakh. Her store is well-known in the whole of Saurashtra.

Bhayani, who recently got the women entrepreneur award from state government at Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), has studied only till Class X but has reached where she is today due to her initiative and dedication.

However, Bhayani says that success didn't come easy. She says, "I have put six years of hard work in this business."

Bhayani says she started the venture in 1999 when her husband incurred losses in his business, with just Rs 1 lakh capital investment. Now, she employs around 25 workers, mostly women. Bhayani could actually be instrumental in the making of more businesswomen.

"About 90 per cent of the people working here are women. At present, twenty five workers are working in our factory outlet and most of them are middle-aged women," claims Bhayani.

Explaining about bandhni, Bhayani says, ""Bandhni literally means tying and that is exactly what our craftspeople do to achieve a tremendous variety of patterning on cloth. Tiny knots are made on the cloth creating a resist for the dye."

"Our main products are salwar kameez, shawls, bandhni, cotton dresses, bandhni sarees, chania cholis, duppattas, dress material, silk salwar kameez and the like," she says, listing her product profile.

She says Jamnagar is the main centre for this form of art. "Jamnagar is the main centre of tie-dye across the world and the water in this area brings out the brightest red while dying. Bandhni was introduced in Jamnagar when the city was founded 400 years ago and has now become one of the main centres of bandhni," says the Utsav Creation proprietor.

Her store gets orders from Mumbai, Vadodara and also accepts bulk orders from Jamnagar, Ahmedabad and Vadodara.

Explaining about her work and the art of bandhni, Bhayani says, "A bandhni garment is considered auspicious for the bride. The raw materials required for bandhni are muslin, handloom or silk cloth, ordinary thread for tying, starch and colours for dyeing. Traditionally, vegetable dyes were used but today chemical dyes are becoming very popular. The tools required are also very basic wooden blocks for marking designs."

About colours, Bhayani said that commonly used colours in bandhni are red, which is a symbol of marriage, saffron which is worn by the yogi who has renounced the world. Yellow stands for spring and black and maroon are used for mourning.

Bandhini involves tying knots and the pricing depends on the number of tiny dots in the pattern.

Bhayani says the peak season for her business is during November, December and January when NRIs visit the state and purchase traditional fabrics.

Bhayani is ambitious but thinks the government should do its bit to promote the bandhni form outside India. "The government should do something so that we can take our business abroad," she says.