Have you ever felt like running your hands on colorful, silky,
smooth, textile articles like trims, tassels and laces? If yes, it is because of a human physiological
phenomenon known to researchers. This condition is termed tactile-emotion synaesthesia. That state may stir up different
sensations to you when you touch dissimilar items of varied textures.
In one of the experiments conducted around the year 2008, a
22 year old subject felt ‘happiness and contentment’ when she touched silk
objects. Last paragraph in this takes you to that story. Presently, following the
second part of our title, let us take a look at trims and golden metallic yarn.
Whether or not one
gets an impulsive feeling to touch soft things, most of us enjoy seeing alluring,
colorful, soft materials which enhance visual appeal of objects we can use at
our homes.
Tassels, trims and fringes are decorative components of several
craft projects, fashion garments and wedding apparels all over the world. These are also used in wall coverings, floor coverings,
curtains and interiors of homes, offices and market places. Assorted types of those
are adornment for chandeliers, throws, dresses, jewelry, bags, couch cushions,
lampshades, scarves and jackets. Even liquor industry has a use for them! Bottles
of expensive brands of spirits add a braid as an embellishment!
The fringe or a decorative border of thread or cord on a
strip has sub-categories like brush, knotted and moss fringes etc.
Pom-pomp fringes (the ones with small balls of threads) are
widely used for do-it-yourself crafts, scarves and skirts. Pompons with loose
and fluffy decorative materials are favorites of cheer leaders in spectator
dominant sports like football and cricket.
Tassels are dangling decoration, a bunch of cords or threads
arranged in parallel. Prices of tassels
vary. People use budget friendly or expensive ones to announce their taste of decor
or wealth and social status and standing. Trims are another item of the same
group of ornamental products made with the use of fabric, ribbons, lace, beads and glittery threads.
Materials with which these articles of adorning are made
include threads of cotton, silk, rayon, wool, nylon and polyurethane. But most
attractive of the fringes use one more raw-material called Zari - a golden yarn. This has been in use in India for thousands
of years. In olden days it was made out of silver yarn fused with gold leaves. It
is one of India’s ancient crafts.
At first, emperors, kings and queens and members of royal
families were the patrons and consumers of clothes interlaced with intricate
designs of golden and silver yarns. There was a time when there were no regalia
without zari. Fabric woven with this
precious yarn also adored the statues of gods and goddesses. The word zari has its roots in Urdu/Persian.
Until the middle of the last century, all the small tools
and equipments needed to produce zari
and weave it into wonder fabrics were indigenously developed by local artisans.
In the early seventies, I had a colleague and friend, an
officer in the audit department, one Zariwala from the textile city of Surat in
Gujarat, India. Other members of his family had a home-based weaving unit. Once
my friend invited me to visit his home based weaving unit. From him I learned
that for over three centuries, Surat was considered the hub of zari weaving and
the manufacturing center of tassels and trims in India.
City of Banaras formally called Varanasi is another manufacturing
center for such products in India.
As the production of zari never kept pace with its demand,
this cottage industry transitioned to modern methods of manufacturing. At first
copper wires electroplated with gold replaced the original raw materials in
zari making. Yarns kept changing. Later other metallic threads quoted with
different types of plastics and metals appeared. Those looked equally attractive.
Then threads of other brilliant colors appeared.
Latest news I heard was that a German firm of international
repute manufacturing ultra modern weaving machines set up their office in India
and commissioned one of their powerful mechanical looms in Surat.
Finally, as promised in the beginning, I read in the ‘Science
Blogs’ the article named ‘Tactile-emotion
synaesthesia’ the link to which is http://scienceblogs.com/neurophilosophy/2008/12/01/tactile-emotion-synaesthesia/
What next? Say something now or go to the other blog, come
back and comment?
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