Karbi girls in traditional attire

Diphu, Jan. 4: Karbi shawls and jackets are making a splash in fashion-conscious Mumbai.

Both shawls and jackets have been flying off the shelves at an international fair, Lakshmi Charak 2004, that is under way in the metropolis. ?The response has left us speechless,? said Motiram Rabha, the District Rural Development Agency official leading a team of self-help groups from Assam?s Karbi Anglong district to Mumbai.

?The expo will end tomorrow, but the items on display in our respective stalls have already vanished. We have also received a few good orders and expect more with fashion going the ethnic way. The time is ripe to explore other metropolitan markets,? a delighted Rabha said over phone today.

The campaign to popularise Karbi attire is being spearheaded by women?s self-help groups in the twin hill districts of Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills. Their numbers have grown by leaps and bounds in the past decade and Karbi Anglong today has 2,107 registered self-help groups engaged in producing shawls and jackets. Three of these self-help groups, Hemptun, Sampko and Matikhula, have put up stalls at the fair, displaying garments worth over Rs 4 lakh.

The group members said besides shawls and jackets, neck-ties also sold like hot cakes. ?Though not exactly an ethnic wear, neck-ties, made from the same material as the shawl, were also in great demand. We would have done even better business had Mumbai been experiencing winter in the true sense of the term,? said Rabha. He added that foreigners were the main buyers, though they did not receive any orders from them.

The colours of Karbi attires depict an individual?s marital status and age. The jackets usually come in three colours ? white for the aged, white and red for the married and red for bachelors. The same colour variation is maintained in shawls too, said Jitemai Beipi whose JB Enterprise, founded in 1986, produces jackets and shawls for the northeastern market.

Another unique selling point of the apparel is that it is still manufactured manually. ?It takes more time, but the products have a greater market value,? said Malini Bongrongpi of Seuj, a self-help group. The traditional Karbi designs depict animals and scenes from war and hunting.

Even Bodos living in the twin districts have taken to the trade. ?Most of our members belong to the Bodo community, but we focus on Karbi garments because of its growing demand in the northeastern market. We now want to make it popular nationwide,? said Nirmala Swargiwari of the Matikhula group.