Behula Ba - Personal Story

Hailing from the small town of Gondal in Rajkot district of Gujarat, the story of Behula’s mother’s family traces back to how generations have perceived textiles as a symbol of identity. Behula's maternal grandparents participated in the Dandi and Swadeshi movements led by Gandhi. Her grandmother, as a result of her dedication to the cause, gave away all her sarees and only wore plain, simple khadi sarees. Her grandfather was imprisoned in Pune’s Yerwada Jail away from his family due to his active participation in the freedom movement. The protest to safeguard one’s identity soaked into the hearts of the family members. On the contrary, the meaning of national identity changed for her children amidst the post-independence era. Behula’s mother was sent to study at a Gururkul in Porbandar. Conditioned by a school with a very British derived yet culturally Indian system and at the same time belonging to a family that participated in the freedom struggle, Behula’s mother was a freethinking woman. Representing her school in Kenya, she met her soon-to-be husband. The two decided to get married, and as part of the wedding trousseau, sarees were procured from the markets of Benaras and Gujarat for a traditional wedding setup. The wedding took place in Gondal, after which she moved to Kenya along with her husband. When Behula visited India, the times had changed. Her grandmother bought her a saree, a combination of silk and cotton with embroidered borders. It was contemporary in its aesthetic while still being a combination of kora and indigo, which are integral in Indian textile history. Although sarees were found in the markets of Kenya, the preference towards sarees from India had a different value altogether. Simultaneously, new materials found their way in the base fabric of sarees such as nylon and other synthetics from Japan, which was unacceptable to some Indians such as Behula, who held craft and textiles at a high pedestal.
Like Behula the association of textiles and life stories form a union for many others in the lives of common families.