Weaving Memories: Stories of Solidarity and Oppression (1) by Ishita Girme

Owing to the significant social meaning held by textiles, clothing is rarely discarded 

in India. Instead, it is frequently recycled for both the domestic and global markets.

For a long time, the act of recycling and repurposing old clothes has been a means

for Indians to preserve their history while also being thrifty. Furthermore, many

Indian states have made a thriving business out of repurposing old clothes using

craft techniques unique to their culture.

Traditionally fabric from old sarees are stitched together using run stitches to give

it a unique look, the finished product ends up being a blanket or a wrap.

The art of quilting is prevalent and is found across different communities in India.

Using sarees to make a blanket is called Kantha and is famous in the eastern states

of India like Bihar, West Bengal and Assam.

Godhadi is a traditional, hand-stitched, Maharashtrian quilt offering a range of

bedding solutions and can also often be made into other accessories like hand bags,

pouches and more.

Godhadi is made up of layers of up-cycled, used, old fabrics from the family.

Especially the elderly ladies of the family, worn out sarees are usually used to

make these snuggly quilts. To sum it up, Godhadi making can essentially be called

the art of discarded textile material.

It has always been a craft that women have indulged in, where women either in

groups or individually end up coming together and sew quilts out of waste fabric.

Some Godhadi forms are closer to patchwork and are a riot of colour but the ones

that are commonly found are made up of intricate patterns created in simple

running stitch on plainish cotton sari bases.

This quilt making is also deemed as a domestic craft meaning women engaged in

this type of work, practice it from their home. Generally, the Godhadi making

process would happen in summer when there is no farm-related work. Women

decide days and come together in afternoon time to stitch Godhadi which then also

becomes a social gathering event. Women join the gathering sometime to just enjoy

the event. Women that gather for this event, start by the layering process of the

quilt but also share stories about how their day went and the troubles of married

life. Sometimes these women end up sharing their emotions in the form of songs

where the song becomes a way of expressing their emotions. Accounts of this are

seen in Bahinabai’s poems as well, where she speaks of troubles that occur in her

marriage.

The event of women gathering together to make quilts then also becomes a space

available for women to sit and openly discuss their trials and tribulations.Thus quilt

making can be seen as liberatory for women, it also gives life to new forms of art

like songs and poems.

Growing up in a small village in Maharashtra, I always ended up seeing it in every

corner of my house. Rather I had one favourite Godhadi that I would never let

anyone use. I used it to the extent of actually running it down. I found it difficult to

part ways with it. The emotional component is that it becomes a symbol that marks

memories as it is passed from one generation to the other.

It is of great aesthetic value and affection that one receives from our Grandmother

through the medium of these Godhadi quilts. It never ages though users and

viewers get older. It is a warm blanket that speaks about memories and makers,

especially women.

These quilts have traveled with me all my life, I see pictures of me as a baby

wrapped in these comfortable quilts to traveling in the car and specifically taking

my Godhadi for a long journey.

These quilts are also used for infants and children as blankets and wraps as it is soft

and suitable for the Indian climatic conditions.

When these quilts are made for infants, the women make sure the discarded sarees

that are used have no sequences or rough surfaces so that the fabric suits the child.

Typically one would also use a Godhadi when it is hot as these blankets tend to

remain cool throughout the summer.