Episode 27: The Silk Dream of Sualkuchi

What does a community of weavers do when it discovers that duplicates are flooding the market and damaging the reputation of their local handloom products?

They secure a trademark.

This is exactly what the people of Assam’s silk village, Sualkuchi did. Famously known as “Manchester of Assam”, the village is known to produce three types of Assamese silk – Muga (the Gold Silk), Eri (the non-violent or the ahimsa silk), and Pat.

A big challenge for the community has been its journey to acquire legal protection for its products, in light of the imitations (imported and/or made in different regions of India) circulating in the market.

In this episode, I visit Sualkuchi to know more about its journey. Listen to me interview weavers, learn the types of test performed by the testing laboratory on silk and grapple with the past, present and future of Sualkuchi.