KOCHI:Chendamangalam, where the recent flood left a devastating trail, and its weavers are on a path to recovery with the widespread campaign seeking help to revive the handloom town hitting the mark. Help has been pouring in from several quarters, including globally, that the stocks are being sold off in no time.
“Orders are coming in from the UAE and the US, that Chendamangalam handloom saris are already out of stock. Only a very few ‘double mundus’ and ‘set mundus’ are left. Hopes are high among weavers here. It is a good time,” T S Baby, president of Paravur Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society, told Express.
According to him, various NGOs and individuals have come forward to help weavers at Chendamangalam. “People like Justice Sukumaran, actors Indrajith and Poornima Indrajith and Gopalji Foundation had worked for the weavers here. The Rotary Club is also organising a sale and exhibition of handloom products. As for the government, surveys are going on with regard to damaged looms. We hope the government would help us overcome the crisis,” he said.
However, despite help arriving for looms and weavers, the Yarn Bank has not been able to cash in from the campaign. “The Yarn Banks suffered a loss of over Rs 50 lakh. Since they supply just threads and not fabrics, the attention has failed to fall on them. Their only hope is the Central and state schemes. While looms set up at houses have benefitted from campaigns like Chekutty, the Yarn Banks are still reeling under a crisis,” said Baby.
With national attention falling on Chendamangalam and the plight of weavers, many NGOs have come forward to help the handloom society by repairing all the damaged looms. While Gopalji Foundation has so far helped repair seven looms, many had actively promoted Chendamangalam handloom on social media.
Chekutty app launch
Chekutty, the small handmade dolls that have become the symbol of Kerala’s resilience, will soon have a mobile application. The piloting of the app was done the other day at Google headquarters in California by Gopi Kallayil, chief brand evangelist of Google. Lakshmi N Menon, co-founder of the concept Chekutty, initiated the launch event. The app is being developed by the Chekutty team.