Geetanjali Krishna: Development by design

PEOPLE LIKE THEM

I didn't know tribals who've probably never gone out of their villages, could make such well-cut skirts," commented one customer who visited the stall of The Ant at Dilli Haat yesterday.

Another commented that most of the colours used were in vogue this season. As browsers turned to buyers, people from The Ant "" an organisation that works with tribals in the north east "" got busy cutting receipts.

The marketing success of The Ant is, to a great extent, a tribute to their designing skills. At a time when not too many NGOs employed professional designers to design garments, this development organisation from the north east, which works with tribes like the Bodos, did. So, instead of marketing traditional crafts in traditional forms, The Ant, from its inception in 2002, was able to convert the beautiful traditional weaves of the north east into trendy and well-cut skirts, tops, tunics and furnishings.

Most of the tribes in the north east "" the Bodo, Karbee and Dimasa, to name some, live in dire poverty, and have traditionally woven exquisite fabric, but only for personal use. The Ant aimed to turn these available skills into livelihood opportunities. "Every Bodo house has a loom, but the predominantly woman weavers always wove for personal use only. Each colour used denoted the specific tribe they belonged to," says Pradeep Krishnapa, a product and fashion designer who designs for the organisation in tandem with Smitha Murthy, a textile and fashion designer. "However, these fabrics had little value outside the village context," says he, "and so, the only way for us to market them, and was to design them into garments and furnishings which would reach out to the burgeoning middle class in the city."

The formula seems to have worked well "" their weaving programme has doubled its sales every fiscal year. It involves more than a hundred women weavers, of whom over 80 per cent were poor and debt-stricken when they entered the programme. By August 2005, The Ant's sales were around Rs 28 lakh and the weavers have formed their own organisation, Aagor Daagra Afad, whose brand "Aagor" is marketed in the US by Dreams On Looms.

"How we work is simple," says Krishnapa. The Ant trained Bodos in tailoring, laying special emphasis on finish and neatness. The tailors formed a self-help group (SHG), which today executes most of the production. "We tell them what colours to use based on the colour forecasts for the season," says Krishnapa. In fact, designers' inputs are essential as each fabric is woven keeping a specific product in mind. "So first we design a product, and then the fabric for it is woven. For instance, if I want a fabric for a skirt, the weaver weaves a broader border. And if we ask for a fabric for a shirt, the border size is correspondingly smaller," says he.

The Ant also operates as a umbrella resource to organisations in other parts of north-east India. Krishnapa and Murthy offer design support to other groups to make their products more marketable. Until August 2005, it has already helped four other groups, all of whom have made remarkable progress in marketing their products, many of which are now retailed through their websites as well. Sales are growing by leaps and bounds. "Last financial year, the weaving programme of The Ant earned Rs 12 lakhs "" this year, we've crossed that figure already, with six months still to go," says Krishnapa proudly. Well, they've more than lived up to their name "" a tribute to those tiny hardworking insects who work collectively to achieve things far beyond their small size.