Malvika Singh’s Saris of Memory is, as she calls it, a “fragments of my life” memoir — a compilation of her involvement with textiles and the stories connected with them.
Born in 1949 in Bombay, and belonging to a generation that saw the many stages of India post independence, the cultural doyenne was at the curbside of events taking place across the country. “My saris and I have conversations, recalling encounters, sometimes secrets, about people and places, travel and exploration, reliving happy and sometimes painful events that have peppered my life across a span of over 70 years,” she says, reminiscing about Chowpatty beach, the city’s vibrant Ganapati puja, glass bangles, and delicious meals on banana leaves. “Memories are nudged every so often by my saris, reminding me of the men and women who influenced me and impacted my journey.”
Malvika Singh
Like Sumant and Leela Moolgaokar, who lived in their building, and who were a big influence on a young Singh. Sumant, a scientist, initiated TELCO (now Tata Motors) for the Tata Group. His wife Leela, who was involved with textiles, gave Singh her first sari. Years later, after Singh moved to Delhi (but continued her interest in all things cultural), their paths intersected again when she and her friends were involved with Sally and Richard Holkar at the non-profit REHWA to revive and revitalise the Maheshwari sari. Leela, who sat on the government board for handloom revival, released a grant.
Saris of Memory
Learning from extraordinary people
Her personal journey, Singh says, has been “bookended with extraordinary people and intellectual privilege”. In Delhi, she came in contact with cultural activist and writer Pupul Jayakar, and was mentored by her at the Handicrafts and Handloom Export Corporation of India. During a famine in Bihar, instead of handing out dole to the women in Madhubani, she observed how Padma Shri award winner and artist Sita Devi encouraged them to paint large sheets of brown paper the corporation sold. Singh would take these, and the baskets the men wove, every morning and sell them at different markets, ensuring the money flowed back to the villages.
Indira Gandhi was close to her parents and through her, Singh saw many aspects of the revival of Indian handlooms through programmes initiated by the late prime minister. And through Jayakar, she met Martand Singh in the late 60s — one of India’s great handloom aesthetes who organised the Vishwakarma series of exhibitions from 1981-1991. Together, they worked on several international exhibitions, and on reviving many weaving skills with the Weavers Service Centres. Over time, this knowledge subtly absorbed into her aesthetic repository.
The book also brings to the fore pioneering women who were part of India’s handloom revival, such as Jasleen Dhamija, Fori Nehru, Shanta Guhan, Rukmini Devi Arundale, Mrinalini Sarabhai, and Padmaja Naidu. It is from them that Singh inherited a legacy of intangible knowledge on the different weaving traditions across the country.
Yali’s Venkatagiri sari and (right) a design from raw Mango
Inspiring collaborations
Cut to the present, and Singh is as involved with the sari as ever. During the pandemic, she started a project to keep weavers employed. She recalls how she called a weaver in Varanasi whom she had known for many years and asked him if he could make a sari with the colours of the sunset on the Ganga that evening. He sent it to her in a few weeks. Singh and her friends collected the various pieces, allowing the weavers to be busy during this difficult time.
Singh also engages and inspires people working in the field through collaborations. In 2022, with Ahalya Matthan of Bengaluru-based The Registry of Sarees and its retail wing Yali, she worked on reviving the Venkatagiri sari by sharing her memories, resources and connections. With Sanjay Garg of Raw Mango, she and her daughter-in-law — who is invested in tiger conservation — worked on integrating new designs into his Sherbagh collection.
Sanjay Garg with Singh’s daughter-in-law
| Photo Credit:
Amlanjyoti Bora
And she continues to inspire Ashdeen Lilaowala, who has revived Parsi gara embroidery, in not just creating new saris but also an entire range of menswear and accessories.
“It’s been a privilege to witness Malvika’s extensive contribution to, and patronage of, the textile arts in India. In the form of her magazine Seminar, she has created and sustained a formidable vehicle of knowledge and ideas. Always impeccably turned out, she is among the few serious connoisseurs of the sari and has built an enviable collection by commissioning pieces that incorporate vibrant crafts from across the country.”Ashdeen LilaowalaTextile designer
Saris of Memory is but a sliver of Singh’s life, and like a sliver of a mirror that sometimes dazzles as it reflects, and at other times shows the truth, it is honest in its telling.
Saris of Memory will be launched on February 3 at the Jaipur Literature Festival.
The writer is a cultural activist, philanthropist, and founder of Prakriti Foundation.
Published – January 30, 2025 06:40 pm IST
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