Varanasi, Benares, Kashi, Muhamaddabad - are all the many names of one historical city in whose galis (streets) thrives the master craft of fantastic needlework - the Zardozi and the Haathari embroideries. The names of the two kinds of needlework have been derived from the Persian language. Literally speaking, Zar in Persian means gold or silver and dozi is embroidery. Haathari in simple terms translates to Ari (embroidery) done by haath (hand).

"These craft came into life and flourished about 1,500 years ago in Arabia under the patronage of Prophet Yusuf - Al - E - Islam" believes Noor Ali, a 62 year old Zardozi worker from Koyla Bazaar. Ali who learned the crafts at age 10 under the tutelage of his father, described how this craft traveled from the land of its birth through Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan before reaching the Indian subcontinent in the 12th century. It reached its zenith in the 17th century under the patronage of Emperor Akbar. Zardozi adorned the costumes of the court, wall hangings, scabbards and trappings of elephants and horses. But during and after the rule of Aurangazeb, support declined and many craftsmen left Delhi to seek work in centres of textile manufacture in north and central India. This is how the craft found its way to Varanasi.

In Varanasi, Zardozi and Haathari are done by men predominantly residing in the galis of Koyla Bazaar, Pathanitola, Shivala, Gaurigunj, and Lalapura belonging to the Muslim community. The 20 percent of the remaining Zardozi workers from other religious denominations live on the outskirts of Varanasi . "In earlier days, work was done by the Sheiks, Siddiqui, Sayyeds, Pathans and Mirza castes of Muslims," reminisced 65 year Hakim of Shivala. Now such castist limitations do not clog the craft. Almost every house in this area is involved in the work.

Though there are no official statistics available on the exact number of workers, they total over one lakh as estimated by Mehtab Ahmed of Gaurigunj who retails accessories required for Zardozi work. Mohammed Chand, a karkhandar (factory owner) from Shivala, felt that there were definitely over 10,000 families earning their livelihood from Zardozi and Haathari work.

Handcrafted Symphony
Zardozi is in essence an appliqué method of embroidery. Saheb-e-Alam a karkhandar who has been in the field for 12 years, described how designs are translated to embroidered masterpieces by karigars (workers) - " The motif is first sketched on a piece of thick tracing paper or khaka. Its outlines are then perforated with a needle and the perforated khaka is placed over the cloth. Next the pattern is rubbed with a solution of chalk and kerosene oil to transfer it onto the cloth." Currently screen-printing is also employed to outline the design on to the fabric.

After the entire cloth has been covered, the material is stretched on the karchop (a wooden frame), to be embroidered. The karigar then sits cross-legged around the karchop,and employing a shamsevak (wooden bars with holes, that are used along with the karchop) skillfully maneuvers curved hooks or needles, to embroider kora, sitaras (metal stars), dhapka (round sequins), and kasab on to the fabric. And after hours of painstaking labour applying skill honed after hours of work, an exquisite gold-veined composition emerges.

Zardozi work is increasingly being used not only on apparels but also on cushion and pillow covers, bedspreads, handbags, sandals and buttons. Pure Zardozi work is mainly rendered on crowns produced for the indigenous market (for religious and theatrical purposes) and badges and dress materials fashioned for export purposes. However, these days, pure Zardozi is very hard to come by and most work done is mixed with Haathari work.

Though Haathari developed around the same time as Zardozi, it does not demand the same meticulousness as Zardozi. Haathari is done with a small crochet hook like needle with a fine notch on one head and the other end fixed on a wooden handle. The fabric is fixed on a frame as in Zardozi. The needle is held in the hand and passed up and down through the cloth, much like a sewing machine, while the cloth is pulled tightly over a large wooden frame. The hand above the cloth works the needle, while the hand below the cloth ties each stitch - making the products not just breathtakingly beautiful but also durable.Haathari is done mainly on saris and dress materials. The bulk of Haathari products are exported to the far eastern countries, the Gulf and the United States. There also exists a local market in South India, especially in Tamil Nadu.

It is intriguing that though all Zardozi workers are adept at Haathari, not all Haathari workers are proficient in the art of Zardozi. Most Zardozi workers display considerable disdain while talking about Haathari work. A Zardozi worker deigns to take up Haathari work only to make his ends meet. Ironically, most work done today is Haathari work.

Badges of Toil
The lion`s share of the Zardozi work done now involves badge making. Zardozi badges have been exported for over 50 years to adorn the coats of European and far-eastern armies, university scholars etc. A sizable chunk of the Zardozi badge market is the United Kingdom. "Badges are done only by extremely skilled artisans and we are very strict about the quality of work," declares Ram Saxena an exporter.. "Badge making has no margin for error as the design and logo specified by the client has to be reproduced precisely. There are very few skilled artisans today and karigars today are not as sincere as their forefathers. Now they`d rather watch television than work in the evenings," observed Saxena. A steady market for badges and the specialised skill required by the Zardozi artisans has ensured that they have more bargaining power than the other Zardozi and Haathari workers. Badge makers are better paid than their counterparts and display a very organised and united front.

Karigars of Inferior Genius
A hard-to-ignore phenomenon observed is that though a woman Zardozi / Haathari worker does the same work as a male karigar. she is not be called a karigar nor paid an equal amount as her male counterpart. Tradition demands that all work is done out of homes, resulting in limited opportunities to meet gadhidars or karkhandars to canvass for more orders. "Here in this tiny 10 X 15 feet room where we live along with our family, we sleep, cook, eat and do Zardozi/Haathari work" testifies Tammanna, a 22-year-old woman worker from Gaurigunj. It is exasperating that this is the very point which is held against the quality of a woman`s work - that she does her household chores along with the needlework thus diluting the quality of her work.

Hard Work and Low Pay
It is amazing that this wonderful glittering craft has managed to survive even amidst squalor and abject poverty. Explaining such a disheartening state of affairs, exporter Sagir Ansari of Patanithola said, "The demand for Zardozi is shrinking steadily". And while there are hardly enough orders for Zardozi work, there is a staggering number of karigars vying with each other for the limited amount of work available. "There is always a more needy karigar in the next house, who is ready to snatch the work order for a lesser fee. So each karigar and karkhandar settles for whatever paltry sum the gadhidar is willing to pay. Thus the karigar has absolutely no bargaining power" states Mehtab who wants to organise the karigars under a secular co-operative.

A karigar working at a karkhana is paid on a Nafri system. A karigar usually does 2 Nafris in a day. One Nafri is the payment for a shift of 8 hours amounting to Rs 60/-. The second Nafri is only for 4 hours and earns a karigar the same as the first Nafri. So ideally a karigar should earn Rs 120/- per day. But according to Mohammed Kamal a karigar turned karkhandar, "Due to frequent power cuts , a karigar hardly earns Rs 100 per day." At the end of the month, a karigar earns on an average Rs 1600/-, barely sufficient for two square meals a day for his family.

In contrast, workers working out of their homes are paid on a piece rate basis that varies from Rs. 110 - Rs. 400 for a finished sari. So in effect, a home based worker puts in the work equivalent of 10 or 12 Nafris before she is paid the monetary equivalent of two Nafris.Usually a karigar is commissioned for work by a karkhandar who may own a unit. The disparity of economic status between a karigar and karkhandar is not much. A karkhandar in turn procures his work order from a gadhidar or a mahajan who is in some cases the exporter too. At the top of this power structure are exporters and various showroom owners. In the unequal pyramid of earnings, the hard work of the karigar may earn him around Rs 100 per day.

The Blinding Glitter
The appalling health hazards of this work are very evident from the numerous cases of near blindness among Zardozi workers in their late 30`s. There is the 65-year-old Noor Ali, puss permanently forming in his eyes. Mrs. Eashwar is another such case suffering from night blindness, acute headaches, severe back problems and a very poor daytime vision - all at just 35 years of age. Each house and family visited had a listless retired Zardozi worker who was an extra mouth to feed with no contribution to the family coffer.

The main hazards of Zardozi and Haathari work are loss of sight at a very early age, night blindness, severe back problems, weakness, fainting spells, and asthma. In almost all cases, the illness starts around age 30 and a karigar often retires from Zardozi by age 35. "Now a days the youngsters complain of vision related problems within just two years of work," scorns 47 year old Aslam Khan, probably not realising that the new generation of workers with their near starvation diet cannot withstand much hardships unlike the earlier generation.

Most karigars live in a dark dingy one-roomed house along with their own as well as extended families. There are no facilities of electricity, running water or sewage. These tiny rooms also double up as work areas for Haathari work during the daytime.

The Lure of Sparkle
Despite the hazards of this work, an increasing number of individuals are turning into karigars. Javed Ali and Jasmine, both postgraduates, have been Zardozi workers for five years now. Soni and Aslam support their 15-member family on the income from Zardozi. Laxman Jaiswal used to be a lottery ticket seller before he turned to Haathari work. Dr. Pyarey Ahmed, a medical practitioner in Patanithola, is now trying his hand at export of Zardozi work. Feroz all of 19 years has been working for the past 12 years in a karkhana at Shivala.

Mohammed Chand explained the reasons behind this trend - "A skilled craft earns more income than a regular job, such as that of a shop assistant". The initial pay that a young boy earns by doing Zardozi is much higher than that of other career options. As a Zardozi or Haathari worker, earnings start within eight months." More people opt for this no-investment skill craft in the hope of a better life. All the work related hazards are disregarded in favour of short-term benefits.

However the dwindling orders have rendered the Zardozi work barely profitable. The local market has also been being flooded by workmanship from other areas of Uttar Pradesh. . Hence the Ansari family of `International Insignias` does not wish to have a struggling third generation in the same trade.

Bureaucratic Apathy
The dismal Zardozi trade scenario raises questions whether any efforts are being made to preserve this beautiful art and improve the lot of skilled artisans. . The Zardozi workers technically fall under the purview of the Development Commission for Handicrafts of the Labour Ministry. Unfortunately there is absolutely no awareness about the working or living conditions of the Zardozi and Haathari workers or their needs among the concerned officials.

Mehtab Ahmed of Gaurigunj is of the view that unless the workers and the karkhandars organise themselves to form a co-operative society the lot of the Zardozi workers is not going to improve. "The `Dastakar Union of Zardozi and Haathari Workers` has long been dormant. The only time that this non-political union of karigars raises its voice is when an exporter has placed a big order. They use this opportunity to ask for a raise". Aslam Ansari, an exporter feels that the union should be more intelligent and organised. Rather than make demands when an order has been placed and cause a loss to everyone concerned, they should present their demands for a raise annually, keeping in mind the increasing costs of living. As Mehtab Ahmed pointed out, the union has not approached the government or concerned officials with an all-inclusive account of their problems and required solutions.

Serious thought and action are urgently required to evolve regulations that will empower the Zardozi and Haathari workers. Karigars and karkhandars need to set aside their social, cultural, religious and gender differences in order to address their collective needs. A co-operative that will organise the workers and simultaneously research on new market possibilities is most vital. New avenues in the fashion scenario, such as furnishings, religious vestments etc. should be explored. A health centre providing facilities for free eye care and medical assistance is a crying need. Zardosi and Haathari workers have demanded regular power supply at subsidised rates in all the work areas. The minimum wages stipulated for the karigars need to be reviewed keeping in mind the extreme strains of the work. Strict adherence to such minimum wages stipulated must be enforced. All these measures with the active participation of the weavers themselves should give rise to a better future.