Preface

I first heard of this embroidery form of ‘Patti Ka Kaam” during my childhood in the city of Aligarh. My earliest memory is as a seven-year old wearing a peach-colored kurta and churidar dress with patti-work embroidery on “Eid”.

When my parents moved to Aligarh in 1967 from Bombay (now Mumbai), my mother was introduced to this traditional embroidery form, which was mostly done by the veiled women and girls, and it caught her interest. There were no shops selling patti work in the city in those days. Traditionally, women worked on this embroidery in their homes on their own clothes and off an on at the request of interested patrons. She got together a small group of women familiar with the stitches and started experimenting with her own designs and creations on saris and many other items. She used different materials, embellishments and explored patti work on table cloths, napkins, curtains which was perhaps the first time this was used on household linen. I recall Mamma, as I call her, really enjoying herself discussing colours and designs with the women and girls sitting on the floor cushion in front of her low table with transparent design sheets and carbon paper in her work room in our home in Aligarh. She would explain in detail and train the artisans in aspects of designs, colour combination and quality and also listen to their personal stories of their life and times. I never told her that as I child I was sometimes jealous of the time and attention she was giving to her artisan group.

This theme area of writing is new for me. In my career as a practicing obstetrician & gynaecologist and later as a public health & development professional, my experience is limited to writing technical papers, documents and reports. My interest was sparked when browsing through an article on embroidery crafts in India in an in-flight magazine, I missed the mention of this embroidery form I grew up hearing about in my childhood. Though perhaps I would not be able to do full justice to this work, I have nevertheless enjoyed developing this photographic journey. I have attempted here to explore the art of “phool patti” through my mother’s work and innovations during the 1970’s and 80’s and tried to get a glimpse of the artisans – the women and girls- behind the craft.


My warm thanks to family and friends who shared with me the saris, garments and items designed by my mother, some of them over twenty-odd years ago, which they still had persevered with care in their personal collection. These include among others, Nuzhat Husain, Farida Khusro, Shaukat Tariq, Talat Zamir, Feroza Salman, Asha Govil and Rafat Hai. The collection in this book would not have been possible without their contributions. I take this opportunity to express my particular thanks to my Dad, Sultan Mohamed Khan, for his constant encouragement and support which has always enabled his wife and daughters to explore new areas and achieve their dreams.



I hope this book, perhaps a first on the subject, would trigger the interest and creativity among young as well as established designers to experiment with this traditional Indian craft of “Phool Patti” work and advance its scope, popularity and possibilities. All the designs and creative ideas by Saleha Khan in this book can be freely used, adapted and replicated to encourage promotion of phool patti ka kaam for advancement of its artisans – particularly marginalized women and girls. All proceeds from the publication and sale of this book are for SAFAR (Supporting Action For Advancement and Rights), to contribute towards expanding income generation activities for women and girls which Saleha Khan initiated in her home town in Gwalior.

Farah K. Usmani