Taking these two forms to his own kingdom later was the Nizam of Hyderabad who used them to adorn the silhouette of his sherwani while the zenana preferred it for their drapes. Princess Nilofer is said to have contributed to the designing of the bootis as well. Soon the fabric was a must-have piece in the wardrobes of the nawabs of Deccan.

Cut to the present. In today’s mechanised world is an entrepreneur with a love for the loom; who has not only resettled the weavers in Hyderabad, but has been elementary in reviving motifs from the heirlooms of the nobles of Hyderabad. This time they adorn the shaadi ki sherwani of the NRIs.

For Suraiya Hasan Bose, weaving is mathematics with all the vivid graphs that go into defining the warps and wefts required for each individual fabric. The 80-year-old entrepreneur boasts of a one-of-its-kind handloom venture where master weavers from different regions of the country are busy reviving the ancient forms of mashroo with its tie and dye threads, crafting custard apples motifs in jamewar and creating borders in gold for a nine-yard sari.

“My weaves are sold on the loom,” she says proudly, pointing to various incomplete warps and wefts with their unique bootis. A few orders for a groom in the United States have motifs taken from ancient sherwanis of princes and diwans in the erstwhile Hyderabad state.

Suraiya Hasan’s Safrani Exports sends its items to France, the U.S., Dubai and the U.K. Domestically her line is retailed with Fab India, stores in Bangalore and Chennai. Her workshop, a little away from Hyderabad en route to the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Shamshabad, also doubles up as a training area for researchers; the most recent being a Japanese scholar trying to find the similarities between shibori and the Indian tie and dye. It is here that she transported the telia rumal prints from Pochampally on haute saris.

“The telia kerchief was traditionally worn by workers and the dye was dipped in oil. We changed the technology and got the same weave on other drapes,” she explains, sifting through yards of fabric and coming up with a spectacular black and white sari featuring intricate checks.

A little ahead on the racks is the kalamkari. The art from Bandar or Machilipatnam is transposed on quilts, dupattas, even durees and in newer hues.

“The water in the Machilipatnam canals is good for the print,” explains Suraiya. “I spent all my life in textiles. I have been working for over 30 years. Lepakshi is the first place I worked. My father also worked to promote the weaves. I followed him,” she says.

The Safrani Memorial School, named after her father, educates children of the weavers free of cost along with other children from neighbouring villages. Incidentally, her father worked with Subhas Chandra Bose as his private secretary. And the love for the loom comes from a deep affiliation with the native craft.

“As far as my memory goes, Gandhiji came to our house in Hyderabad and we had a bonfire of British products. I was five,” says Bose. A few blocks away is a science centre named after her husband, Aurobindo Bose, nephew of Subhas Chandra Bose. She looks at the school children rushing home after the classes are over for the day. “The children here are the first generation to go to the school. We have had cent per cent results,” she says, with a matter of pride. “She is doing a great service for the revival of the Paithan and himroo,” says a master weaver from Aurangabad.

Ask her about the issues that weavers face, of the arrival of the machine embroidery and she says, “An entire generation of weavers is being wiped away. Earlier the kings patronised the art and it was hereditary. Today the weavers’ children go to school and they might opt for another vocation; most prefer not to sit on the looms,” she says matter-of-factly.

Tireless and enthusiastic, Suraiya Hassan Bose is the last word when it comes to the Indian handloom, reinventing it with new verve for every new season and market worldwide.

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