The forest is gone but the embroidery lives on

I walk barefoot on the rolling grassland. A little ahead, rising from the velvety grass, is an oval shaped bamboo hut. Thatched by dried grass, the hut has no window and just a tiny door for people to crawl in. By the fence that surrounds the hut, an old frail woman wrapped in a remarkable woolen shawl gives me a toothless grin. I am in a hamlet unmarked on Google Maps in the Nilgiri district of Tamil Nadu. Here live the Todas, a tribe indigenous to the Nilgiri mountains. The Toda women are custodians of the unique embroidery called Pukhoor, G.I tagged since 2013.

Before the British arrived in the Nilgiris, the mountainous terrain was home to widely spread Shola forests. In these thickly knotted woods dwelled many indigenous tribes like the Irulas, Badagas, Kotas, Kurumbas, Paniyars and Todas. Each tribe had their own skillset. The Todas, buffalo herders by livelihood, were known for their dairy products and hand-embroidered shawls called Puthukuli.

Pukhoor features intricate geometric patterns using red and black wool, handwoven on a white cotton cloth. The artisans count the warp and weft, and embroider using needles. The smooth finishing guarantees that the shawl can be worn on any side. Even before independence, Toda shawls were a much sought-after luxury that was celebrated and worn during rituals, particularly funerals, by not just the Todas, but other tribes as well like the Badagas.

“Embroidering regular shawls take around 15 days for a skilled artisan,” says Sheela Powell, founder of an Ooty-based social enterprise called Shalom. She mentions that the fine craft strains the eyes so much that it is not possible to work for more than 3-4 hours in a day. Shalom has a network of 250 Toda women artisans. “We provide them [Toda artisans] the powerloom fabric sourced from the plains. They take it home, embroider and deliver it back to us.”

At Shalom’s physical shop in Ooty and online shop on Instagram, Toda embroidery is not just limited to shawls. They have something for everyone —keychains, coasters, bags, cushion covers, sarees, and of course, shawls. According to Powell, the Toda artisans agreed to collaborate with her as it made economic sense for them. “At Shalom they get continuous work and prompt payment, so they feel financially independent.”

A 2011 census estimates the Toda population to be around 2978 only. Out of the 250 women who collaborate with Shalom, more than half are 65 years old or more. It is very prevalent for Toda women to get married and have many children very early in life. Powell points out that though there are younger women involved in her roster they are very strapped for time.

In the towns and villages in the Nilgiris, the Puthukuli is a common sight. Scaling the slopes of the Ooty Botanical Garden, one can reach another nameless Toda hamlet—a tad bit modern owing to its proximity to the tourist town. Here, as I stand in front of their dairy temple, an octogenarian Toda woman approaches me.

Using her hands, she asks me how I managed to come this far. I answer back in signs and smiles replacing spoken words. She notices me looking at the intricate patterns on her shawl, and with a twinkle in her eye, points at it, and then at herself. “I made it myself.”

There are many isolated Toda hamlets in the forests of Nilgiris, they now mostly live in concrete houses with modern amenities. Apart from the embroidery, the only other remnant of their bygone lifestyle is the bamboo framed thatched huts, called ‘dogle’. These are dairy temples—a sacred place for the community where outsiders are not allowed.

Some designs in their artwork are inspired from their traditional life. The shawls are a canvas for them to conjure up horns of buffaloes, the Sun, the moon, and the mountains that surround them. Their hard work is now being noticed by designers and fashion enthusiasts. Linen Trail, a slow-fashion clothing brand headed by designer Shalini Anilkumar has launched a Toda collection in 2020.

Anilkumar who has been a designer for 15 years has always been intrigued by the Toda way of life. The women and their craft had inspired her and she always wanted to bring that into her work. Linen Trail currently collaborates with 5 Toda artisans. “We do not alter their design in any way, just adapt it in terms of size.” According to Anilkumar they have won the trust of the Toda artisans by paying them in a timely manner and giving them consistent work even during the Covid lockdown. Toda embroidered designer shirts are a hit on Linen Trail’s online shop. “We want to partner with such indigenous communities and prevent their unique crafts from going extinct,” says Anilkumar.

P.S: This article was originally written for a very popular Indian media outlet. The (not so) respectable editor ghosted me after I submitted the piece. It goes without telling that I was also not paid. Hence, here it is, on my very own online real estate.

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