Rakhein Hausla Aagey Badhe Hum, Shehron se Gaon Tak Judte Chalein Hum. (Let’s be courageous and move ahead, and keep connecting the cities to villages). These lines belong to the Sheher Se Gaon Tak anthem that was written after Delhi-based designer Manish Tripathi started an initiative by the same name to uplift rural women.
Taking his initiative further, Tripathi is now attempting a Guinness World Records by creating the world’s largest mask measuring 100sqm. “We will put this mask on the global map with this record. This feat will not only boost the confidence of the artisan women attached to this initiative, but also immortalise women and khadi, which were instrumental in making this mask possible,” informs Tripathi.
The designer travelled 10,000km to 10 cities to collect textiles from various parts of India. “The aim was to highlight the beauty of our craft and textiles by portraying different states such as Phulkari of Punjab, Ajrakh of Gujarat, Rambaans of Uttarakhand, Chikankari of Lucknow, and other states like Maharashtra, Bihar, and Rajasthan,” adds Tripathi.
During this journey, Uttar Pradesh Khadi Gramodyog also came on board. “We collected khadi from 75 districts of UP alone, and everything has been brought to the Delhi unit, where it is being assembled into a mask,” he adds. Tripathi is all about going local for vocal. “When the entire world is talking about sustainable and conscious fashion, I believe this initiative will bring the attention of the public towards our own khadi fabric. Till now, people pitied artisans, but now I want their stuff to be brought for its quality. So that artisans don’t have to beg for the price of their hard work and expertise,” adds Tripathi.
After the mask is completed, it will be taken to Lucknow on an advertisement vehicle, with the anthem as the background score. “We want the people to know the artisans who made the fabric and the effort that went into making the mask. The UP CM will unveil it in the second week of January on a 100-feet hot air balloon — symbolic of the globe,” adds the designer.
Later, this fabric will be distributed among the women of the self-help groups to create coasters, table mats, phone covers and other functional items. Tripathi has trained over 7,000 women in different states of India during the pandemic for sustainable employment. “In ‘Sisterhood of Travelling Shirt’ I created assembly between villages across UP and other states.
One village made the collar, another made the cuffs, someone else did the shirt. The idea was to bring in that kind of finesse so that these women become masters of their trade. And later with the help of branding, we can line up them with forward linkage,” he adds. On future plans, Tripathi, who has found his calling in ‘Fashion with a cause, and design with purpose’, says, “During my visits to rural areas, I found that kids have talent but they remain deprived of creative education. As part of another initiative Design Paathshala, we will provide creative training to the kids in villages.”