Intro

Essence of home starts with the story of my grandparents, Aji and Aja. They are the root of my Indian history that dates back to the indentured trade. Sacrifices were made through many generations and for them it was the Windrush Generation. My Aji and Aja faced many challenges moving to the UK and dealt with years of racial trauma.

The western part of this collection comes from an elegant camouflage of Indian attire such as the sari and to acknowledge my western upbringing and the freedom I can thank the generations before have fought for.

Indentured Trade

Slavery was abolished in 1833. However, British planters had already invested thousands in setting up plantation estates and the abolition deprived planters of their labour. Given the labour intensive process they needed to source man power from elsewhere and had to be be mobile and compatible with tropical climates. They tried with Portuguese labourers from Madeira but were unsuccessful. Eventually Indian labourers were recruited from Eastern and Southern Indian villages with a 5 year contract and sailed from 3 major port cities: Calcutta, Bombay (Mumbai) and Madras.

Heperus and Whitby marked an important juncture, representing the beginning of a centralised system of labour migration from British India to sugar plantations. Was this a new system to revive slavery?

John Gladstone, a British planter and son of 4-time Prime Minister William Gladstone, recognised the threat that the abolition posed to planters and traders. In 1836, he negotiated with Indian merchant companies and british parliament to allow planters to procure Indian labourers for overseas sugar plantations. Parliament passed an act in favour of indian indenture sanctioned sailing of 2 ships, Hesperus and Whitby to the West Indies. Theophilus Richmond, 23 year old doctor from Bedfordshire, was appointed as surgeon on board the Hesperus. He kept a diary of the journey and labourers’ experience.

The First Crossing

On 29th January 1838, Hesperus set sail from Calcutta, carrying 165 indentured workers on board (13 died during voyage) and aarived in British Guyana on 5th May, later known to be “Indian Arrival Day”.

After the first crossing it expanded a vast network of migration creating Indian diaspora communities across the world. Between 1834 and the end of WW1, India became the recruiting ground due to the promises to escape the poverty, desperation and famine. Most were of the lower caste but eventually the higher caste would be under attack to. By the end of the 19th century, 1.3 million Indian indentured migrated to British colonies, highlighting the focal point between labour, migration and colonialism.

Common on indentured voyages, cholera broke out on board and within 5 hour labourers would die. Labourers’ would say that overtime they would be confused on where they were going, get mistreated and corporal punished, making parallels to transatlantic slave voyages.

Contract labour in India was suspended in 1840 but after struggles of finding a replacement, they went back to India with new standards for housing, food, clothing and pay but it was under harsh conditions and low wages of 1 shilling a day.

Indentured labour was abolished in 1917, with the last indentured ship SS Ganges to enter Georgetown and Trinidad. However indentured servitude ended in 1920 following post WW1 protests and efforts led by Gandhi who experienced indentured labour in South Africa.

Empire Windrush

The first well known ship to have brought in a large group of post war west indian immigrants to the UK

Originally known as Monte Rosa, a nazi cruise ship that was built in Germany and launched in Hamburg, 13 December 1930. used to deport norwegian jews and transformed from a troop carrier to a prison ship. In 1945, Monte Rosa was captured by the British and a year later was renamed Empire Windrush named after other merchant ships controlled by the British government during and after WW2 and named after the River Windrush in the Cotswolds

In 1948, 1027 passengers voyage from Jamaica to London making its first arrival at Tilbury Docks in Essex on 22 June 1948. 800 of those passengers gave their last country of residence as somewhere in the Caribbean) This became the symbolic generation of those that came to live in Britain between 1948 and 1971.

The Windrush Generation are those that seeked jobs in the UK or to finish trades and education. Many served in the war and helped to rebuild Britain’s economy. Due to coming from hot tropical climates the best they wore for cold climates were second hand overcoats, trilby felt hats, 1940s zoot suits. Coming to the UK they were disappointed to see dirty buildings and streets replacing the pristine surroundings they had imagined. They also went through racial trauma from locals and would be accused to be part of the windrush immigration scandal.

Empire Windrush continued as a troop carrier in the 50s. The last voyage was sailing off the coast of Algeria until an explosion in the engine room resulted in a huge fire with 4 members of the crew killed.

Saris and Indian clothing

The Sari originated in the Indus Valley Civilisation, Northwest of India 1800BCE. It holds dignity and grace to a woman’s appearance and royal families would wear sari’s of gold and silver thread whereas the lower class would go for an affordable fabric such as cotton.

Saris would be weaved and dyed in indigo, lac and tumeric, all that are still used today. It can also be decorated with embroidery and block printed designs

In the 12th century when the mughals took over, saris were instructed to be worn with a blouse and petticoat so that women would remain modest. They also helped keep pleats in place when draped.

Nivi Drape

The Nivi drape is the most common style of wrapping arpund the waist with the pallu draped over the left shoulder.

This sari style was first noticed in the Deccan culture and was originally worn without a blouse or petticoat until the Colonial era, when Victorian morals imposed that blouses needed to be worn for modesty. Devi Tagore adopted the drape and incorporated the blouse and petticoat.

Lehenga

Patola Drape

The Patola saree comes from Patan, Gujarati and has a rich royal history and associated with nobility.

In the 12the century the Salvi caste was part of the Salkani dynasty took over Gujariti where it defined the rich status for women.

Patola sarees are recognised for their complex handwoven textiles that are usually made from cotton and takes between 6 months to 1 year to be made. Patterns are usually inspired by architecture of gujarati, animals and geometric shapes and are extracted from marigold flowers, pomegranate skin, henna, turmeric and indigo.

These sarees are worn for sacred occasions and are gifted to brides.

A lehenga consists of a long skirt, fitted blouse and a dupatta. This traditional indian garment is also traced back to the Mughal era and was worn by royalty.

In the North lehengas were made from silk and brocade whereas in the South it was made with kanjivaram silk.

Indo- western lehengas is a style of a lehenga that is fused with western style garments.

Named after the legendary courtesan and was known for her unmatched beauty and grace. However it was a forbidden love story with Prince Salim, son of emperor Akbar and Anarkali was entombed alive and her beauty and courage immortalised.

The features-

Fitted bodice

Umbrella shaped skirt

Intricate embroidery, sequins and embellishments

Paired with churidar pants or leggings

Nauvari Drape

A 9 yard length from Maharashtrian and a symbol of grace, heritage and tradition.

Marashrtian women created this trouser like drape from dhotis that Maratha warriors wore and added pleats to the back for easy movement

These sarees are often weaved from pure silk with different motif options such as nature, religious symbols and mahrashtrian culture. They come in different vibrant colours such as green, red, yellow and purple and represents prosperity, happiness and spirituality. This makes the sarees versatile and can be worn during any occasion.