Root Cause

Designing talents across the country are rejuvenating traditional textiles with a modern twist, giving a new lease of life to age-old styles like bandhini

The biggest seller of arms to India is demanding a 10 per cent escalation, or roughly $70 million (Rs 280 crore) in the cost of the overhaul. It’s not just the Vikramaditya, Russia wants a similar cost escalation in contracts worth over $10 billion (Rs 40,000 crore) it has signed with India in the past year (see box). It means India will have to now pay approximately $1 billion (Rs 4,000 crore) more. Russia cites this as the result of the falling value of the dollar and the strengthening rupee over the past year.

Shyamal & Bhumika Ahmedabad’s Ashavali sari has been given a new lease of life by this Ahmedabad-based duo. “It was tough to get the weavers to weave the age-old designs.” Sirali (Gunjan and Rahul) They have developed a unique non-woven fabric where threads are fused together to create designs. “We believe rich material can also make a priceless fabric.” Samant Chauhan This Bihar-born has reinvented Bhagal-puri silk with different techniques and digital prints. “I prefer to develop fabric from the yarn stage to change its property.” Dev r Nil The Howrah boys have developed textiles from handlooms of Bengal with a special weave of linen, cotton and silk with some metallic gold. “We customise differently; our creations always incorporate ethnic influences.” Deepti Toor The Ahmedabad-based designer has created papier mache fabrics with jute and employed tribal Warli prints in her design. “Each design was uniquely crafted. The idea is to create textiles with design.” Rahul & Firdos The Ahmedabad-based duo revived the ‘bandhini’, the traditional textile of Bhuj, Kutch, with newer silhouettes and shorter lengths. “We have preserved the craft by giving it a new expression.”

Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials are livid. “Asking for cost escalation after a contract has been signed is practically unheard of,” says an official. It’s not just tough talk over contracts, the MoD is also incensed at Russia’s recent clearance to re-export RD-93 jet fighter engines from China to Pakistan, which they see as an absolute volte-face on an assurance ahead of President Putin’s visit in January. Defence Minister A.K. Antony preferred to play down the rift: “Delays and escalations happen with all countries. We are asking them to deliver on time and negotiations are going on to sort out issues,” he said.

Efforts are underway to resolve these issues before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Russia due in November and Antony's visit in October. Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt has visited Moscow twice in as many months in an unsuccessful bid to resolve the deadlock. The shipyard says the entire carrier has to be rewired, pushing up the costs. Russia says it cannot obtain the carrier’s arrester-wire gear from Ukraine (crucial for recovering the MiG-29 aircraft which land on the carrier’s deck). The yard has, meanwhile, diverted more than 75 per cent of the carrier’s workforce for building three nuclear submarines for the Russian navy. “We will be lucky if we can get the carrier by 2012,” shrugs a defence official. This is around the time when India's sole aircraft carrier, the 48-year-old Viraat, will be decommissioned, leaving the Navy carrier-less. Over the past decade, brisk Indian orders for tanks and fighter aircraft have revived Russia’s paralysed military-industrial complex. "With surging oil revenues, Russia no longer sees India as the only source of revenue,” says a defence official. It is increasingly driving hard bargains with India which so far has been unable to leverage its buyer’s clout with Russia. This year, it will float tenders for 126 multi-role fighters worth over $9 billion (Rs 36,000 crore) where Russia’s MiG-29 is a leading contender.

Conscious Culture Designers with a conscience have taken to ethical dressing with a vengeance. Design doyenne Ritu Kumar’s hip range of jeans come dyed in vegetable colours. Bangalore designer Deepika Govind’s latest fall-winter collection boasted a line in Assamese muga silk, which has natural uv rays protection properties. Govind has in the past created fabrics using bamboo fibre and other eco-friendly variations in silk. While veterans have used vegetable dyes in their designs, now the newer set seems to be eager to continue the tradition. Aneeth Arora’s debut collection at LFW reflected her use of natural dye specialists from Jaipur. Bangalore-based brand Ravage by Raj Shroff and Neetu Gupta (below) also displays a sound sense of organic fabrics despite their modern approach to design. Style with soul, indeed.

While India plans to diversify its defence basket to prevent dependence on a single source—US and European firms are leading contenders for huge upcoming contracts worth over $50 billion over the next decade. However, its armed forces are hopelessly dependant on Russia for spares support for its existing arsenal, more than 70 per cent of which is made in Russia. Defence officials also see the hard stance as a signal, on the eve of the Indo-US nuclear deal, not to take its secret assistance in India’s strategic programmes for granted. Russian engineers are quietly helping build India’s nuclear submarine, the Advance Technology Vessel. Next year, it will transfer an Akula class nuclear-powered submarine on a 10-year lease to train Indian crews. Clearly, India’s tough talking options are limited.

-By Sandeep Unnithan

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