Come Together

In the aftermath of the floods in Kerala last year, the fashion fraternity joins hands in heartwarming solidarity with the weavers of Chendamangalam

- Varun Rana

On August 15, 2018, as the country woke up to celebrate its 72nd Independence Day, the people of Paravur

Taluk in Ernakulam, Kerala, found themselves at the mercy of the worst floods they had seen in a century. And one of the worst hit areas was the Panchayat of Chendamangalam, a handloom centre and producer of Kerala’s distinct ivory cotton mundus.

According to government figures, the total loss of property was estimated at just over four crores. “This is a misleading figure,” says Ramesh Menon, who started Savetheloom.org and spent weeks on the ground to document the devastation caused by the floods.

A total of 273 handlooms belonging to 10 weavers’ cooperative societies were damaged or destroyed. But that wasn’t all. Bales of yarn, ready fabrics, and other materials used for weaving were all submerged for a full week in the floodwaters. Add to that the loss of daily wages, compounded with months of not being able to work. Menon says that real-time figures are closer to three times the official estimate.

It was during this time that Menon—a longtime fashion journalist and a former consultant to the Fashion Design Council of India—was visiting his parents in Kochi. Since the flights were cancelled and Menon had no way of going back, he went to a few flood-affected areas out of curiosity. And that was his point of no return. “I met an old gentleman who ran one of the bigger weaving societies. It was utter ruin; the weavers could never survive without help,” he says.