October 2011, my long planned trip to Bhopal. I had planned a 10 day stay to help my mother out during the post-operative phase of her cataract surgery. Though the surgery by itself is not considered a major one, the post operative phase needed her to stay away from hot stoves, so cooking would not be feasible. And hence my planned long stay with them.
A two week stay away from home! The usual craziness before leaving, endless directions to husband and son, about what cooked items had been frozen, how much Idly batter had been prepared and stored, what shortcuts they could take to ensure stress free mealtimes and then of course my packing. I think I spent more time planning what projects to take, agonising about the yarn, the hooks and needles, getting the patterns printed, the clothes were a last minute add on! When I was finally packed and set to go, my planned projects bag was atleast as big as the one with my clothes!
After ten lovely days with my parents, with a lot of mental moaning and groaning about not having net access..and not being able to check Ravelry about details of the projects I had taken with me it was time to leave.
My return train was scheduled to leave from Bhopal around 9 pm. I was actually looking forward to the 40 hour train journey with uninterrupted reading and crafting time. My parents had come along with me to see me off. We reached the station to discover the train was late, the expected arrival time kept getting pushed back and we decided to wait in the comfort of the waiting room.
We entered the waiting room and my attention was immediately drawn to this lady who sat near the door, knitting something absolutely gorgeously coloured. My thoughts flew to the lovely shades of the Noro yarn I have been drooling over whenever I came across a project posted on Ravelry using this gorgeously coloured yarn. After a few minutes of stealing glances at her knitting away, I decided to go across and talk to her.
She told she was the attendant of the waiting room and knitted through the night to ensure she stayed awake and did not sleep on the job.
I learnt that throws knitted out of strips cut from used sarees were all the rage. Two models were popular, the rectangular one that was on her needles and a circular one knit on short-rows. The sarees were cut into one long narrow strip of just under half an inch, starting at one end and then turning back to cut the next strip. She had her material requirement all worked out.
The rectangular throws needed 2 full length sarees, the short-row circular ones needed three. I took a close look at her needles, they were old Pony straights, number 11 (3.00mm), sadly bent and eroded.
I was really humbled, here I was thinking that I was sadly constrained by my inability to have the latest knitpro or the highly recommended Addis, feeling that not being able to afford the high end long colour changing yarns was what was stopping me from knitting stunning pieces. And here was this woman knitting gloriously coloured beauties, with bent and corroded needles and with such a big happy smile on her face.
She was also really generous, kept asking me when I would be visiting next ….promising to keep a set of rectangular and circular throws knitted up for me to take away with me. I had to bow my head before her, she taught me such an invaluable lesson, good knitting does not depend on high end yarns, it does not depend on having the most fancy needles money can buy.
Love of the craft, a good eye for colour and a creative thought process was enough to ensure that beautiful things were created using whatever was available on hand.
Before I knew it the three hours waiting time had flown by and it was time to go out of the waiting room and get ready to board the train. I now know of a good home for all my old Pony straights which do not get any use and I am looking forward to my next trip to visit my parents sometime in March when I can take a small packet of knitting goodies for a lady who showed me that knitting could be pleasurable and beautiful even without access to anything other than two bent needles.
You remind me of many women I have met, who make do with whatever yarn and needle they get and create such lovely finished projects. No written patterns anywhere and the fingers fly like it’s all been fed into them!
Loved the write-up, so true!
They are the true unsung heros of the crafting world!
She looks comfortable, and happy with her knitting. Thanks for this post!
What a lovely story! Thank you for sharing! Durga Bai sounds like a lovely crafter. May her tribe increase!
Loved reading about Durga Bai. Beautifully written
Monika, Josie, Pearlin, thank you for taking the time to read this.
I think these ladies are the true torch-bearers of crafts in India. They do not know how to read a written pattern, but give them a completed project and in no time they would have decoded the how’s and why’s and re-engineered the pattern.
What a great blog post! You truly spoke about the meaning of crafting through Durga Bai.
Thank you!
oh…wow…thank you so much for sharing this….i loved reading about Durga bai…i think it’s going to be an eye opener for me too…who always moarn about lack of craft supplies in my part of world..
Nima, thanks for taking the time to read this. And i have to agree it grounded me much faster and made me appreciate all the resources I do have.