“While dar ning, we would be told to sit cross-leg ged on the floor and in the centre of a room,

so there was no resting the back against the wall, so we would always be alert! Leaning against a wall was believed to lead to laziness! It was tough.” –Waseem Ahmed ire adm

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large shawls into smaller pieces, adding borders and butis motifs into existing shawls, would be impossible without the skills of a rafoogar.” Ali explains: “Rafoogars had the most important role in the 19th century when shawls were substantial in size and had an elaborate composition of a central medallion and borders, both of which were intricately designed. The shawls could be up to 300 x 150 cm. It would have been labour-intensive for one or even two weavers to weave one such shawl. These shawls also attracted tax. In this context, it is said that shawl weaving was shared between weavers, each of whom wove a section of the shawl. The finished pieces were later neatly stitched together by rafoogars. Thus, their skills helped create spectacular shawls and provided an impetus to the shawl trade.” “Rafoogari – that is, the darning work – is an art,” says Waseem Ahmed, a fifth-generation rafoogar based in Najibabad. “It requires immense skill, patience, time, and discipline. All these qualities are inculcated in us in childhood. Traditionally, young boys start learning rafoogari as early as seven and train for five years. While darning, we would be told to sit cross-legged on the floor and in the centre of a room, so there was no resting the back against the wall, so we would always be alert! Leaning against a wall was believed to lead to laziness! It was tough.” Najibabad is a town in Uttar Pradesh, about 200 km northeast of New Delhi. It was founded in the mid-18th century by Nawab Najib-ud-Daula, as its location offered immense potential to facilitate trade from Kashmir. Over time, it became a hub of the pashmina shawl trade. Rafoogars from Kashmir moved to Najibabad. The town became synonymous with their work, this association continues today. Many pashmina shawl producers, collectors, and retailers maintain links with rafoogars in Najibabad. “Pashmina shawls are woven with different weave structures,” says Ahmed. “These are twill, diamond, locally called chasm-e-bulbul (it has one diagonal square inside another), and herringbone. The rafoogar has to recreate the weave structure when repairing tears or holes.” He explains there are different techniques of rafoogari, of which the finest, most challenging, and expensive technique is bajazi or taar todh rafoo. It involves removing one yarn at a time from a part of the fabric itself and using it to recreate the missing warp and weft, thus replicating the structure of the shawl. It is paramount that the yarns match in terms of weight and colour. This is especially important in antique shawls as they were woven with hand-spun pashmina yarns. If it is impossible to remove threads from the shawl, then the rafoogar finds a fabric whose threads match. If the colour matches, it is used as is; otherwise, the yarns are dyed to correspond perfectly with the count of the weave of the shawl itself. Once the hole is mended, the yarns are carefully cut, and there is no indication of the repair work done. Suppose a large part of a shawl has deteriorated. In that case, the rafoogar will try to salvage whatever is possible and neatly affix it on a new shawl, such as in the form of borders. Rafoogars are also adept at jod (to join) pieces of shawls. “The most famous jod is the tak-maki ka jod, which is done with such fineness that it is almost impossible to make out the joint when the work is completed,” Ahmed says. “The rafoogar joins the pieces so the pattern is `running,’ meaning there is no visible break. We also keep collecting pieces of shawls we come across and then sort them, create a composition of a shawl length with a central piece, field and borders, and then join them with fine stitches to create an attractive new shawl.” Rafoogars say that, sadly, rafoogari of the quality required for antique shawls is a dying art. There are fewer takers for the profession in the present generation due to the physical nature of sitting for long hours, the effect of the work on eyesight, and the uncertainty of employment and favourable remuneration offered by other professions. However, the result of highly experienced and skilled rafoogars continues to be valued by collectors of old textiles, museums and producers of shawls. Ali says: “Rafoogars are a unique living heritage of India, and their skills must be preserved and acknowledged for their contribution to saving so many priceless textiles.” ••• Brinda Gill Further Reading: Rafoogari of Najibabad​ by Priya Ravish Mehra presented at the Textile Society of America Simposium, University of Nebraska - Lincoln 2004, Asaf Ali: @kashmirloom Deepak Badhwar: @deepak_badhwar Waseem Ahmed: @antiqueshawls