MANZOOR : A MAJESTIC HAND IN A WORLD OF MACHINES
Noorbagh is the place where a group of Aari artisans lives, works and crafts skilled pieces of brilliance. The group is headed by Mr. Manzoor, a 62 year old gentleman. Mr. Manzoor has established his workshop in an old house, where one can find artisans from various genres of Kashmiri art working on various floors. Mr. Manzoor started working as an artisan of Aari when he was merely 12 years of age. He graduated from Abdul Gani Sheikh’s Karkhana as his apprentice.
The floor is divided into 2 main compartments where the artisans form an assembly line to work. They have lived almost 40 years of their lives, mastering the screw like hook called Aari and crafting wonders out of it. The room in itself is full of finished and half done stacks of ethnic suits, sarees and kaftans, which would then go to the handicrafts intermediary and sell at rocketing prices in foreign markets, while the real heroes behind their making plunge into the darkness of poverty day by day.
Mr. Manzoor heads a group of 5 artisans – Mohammed Ismael, Mohammed Amin, Abdul Rahman, Mohammed Ashraf and Ghulam Mohammed. All of them must be in their late 60s and master the skill of hand embroidery with a specialized hook type needle called Aari. “We begin our work at the break of dawn and end at dusk. The resulting piece of embroidery is full of evergreen charm and grandiose and Mr. Manzoor is more than proud to have crafted not one, but thousands of such pieces.
Mr. Manzoor believes that “Machines cannot replicate the effect which a human hand casts with the help of this magic tool called Aari”. The handmade product has its own charm, it is more long lasting in that it’s threads do not come out as they are secured into knots manually by the artisan. In a machine embroidered product, this is not possible. It might be cheaper in cost and quicker in production, but its life is as short as the machine. However, handcrafting in these crucial times is not easy. It fetches them very less money. But they do not work for money. They have fallen in love with this craft. As most of the kashmiri talent is working hard to preserve their heritage of embroidery by living a life of simplicity and dignity that they have opted to contribute towards their motherland. This rare dedication is praiseworthy and needs to be recognized.
