There are only two weavers on the looms at Sujni Co-operative Society that weave them in the nearly 100-year-old building run by the Seth Jeejeebhoy Dadabhoy Trust.
The Sujni Co-operative Society in Bharuch comprises the last two weavers—Rafeeqbhai and Muzakirbhai Sujniwalla—who know the craft. Pics/Vicky Joshi
The building lay unused for 40 years before it was restored by the ladies of the local Inner Wheel club. It is now a training-cum-production centre for sujni craft
Niravkumar Sanchaniya, a Mahatma Gandhi National Fellow who helms Project ROSHNI (Revival of Sujani and Neoteric Inclusion of Artists)
The intricate patterns of the sujni come from arranging a combination of squares and rectangles, each in a different colour. The building, built in 1926, used to house Bal Mandir nursery that Pilloo Ginwalla attended
This twilight of the craft started with the restoration of the building that served as the Bal Mandir nursery where Pilloo and her husband incidentally studied. It was built in 1926 and comes under the aegis of the Seth Jeejeebhoy Dadabhoy Charity. It lay decrepit for 40 years before the ladies of Bharuch’s Inner Wheel club made its conservation a passion project in 2010.
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