Septuagenarian Ghumani’s zeal for weaving Dhakiya

By Rajani Yogi,Surkhet, Aug. 13: Ghumani Tharu is 72 years old. It’s time for her to take rest, but her perseverance and enthusiasm see no stopping. She has been weaving baskets (dhakiya) for six decades, and she is still persistently carrying on the weaving skills passed on by her ancestors. She still weaves baskets at her spare time when she is done with cooking, cleaning and gardening. She has woven thousands of baskets. She said, “In my youth, I used to weave and sell two to three baskets each day but now it takes 12 to 13 days for me to weave a single basket. Now this old tradition is being lost.”

With the increasing age, Ghumani Tharu, a resident of Birendranagar-10, feels that their art of weaving dhakiya attached with their traditional identity, is losing its importance. She feels that Tharu community is gradually being dissociated with their traditional practices. She wants to conserve this ancient practice and she wants the young generation to learn this craft, but she could not pass on this ancient craft to young generation. She said, “Our offspring don’t know how to weave dhakiya, dhakiya was used in wedding and feasts but this tradition is gradually dying.”

There is no dearth of raw material needed for dhakiya but with the advent of technology Tharu community is neglecting their traditional craft and this trend worries her. She feels the young generation should be given formal training so that they learn this craft.

Rup Lal Chaudhary, a Tharu activist, said, dhakiya is used in religious ceremonies, weddings and in funeral rites as well. In the formal function of Tharu community it is used to welcome guests and he feels young generation should be trained to weave dhakiya. Man Bahadur Chaudhary, a Tharu leader, feels that dhakiya should be promoted as souvenir of Surkhet.