Today they work mostly for traders in Calcutta who order work for resale. Over the years, the fineness of the craft declined, because people wanted more work for less money. The only way to achieve this was to do coarser work. The designs too were completely governed by the market and the old court memories began to recede. Also men stopped wearing these finely worked garments and today, these craftsmen embroider almost totally for women.

Sasha started working with a group of these craftsmen in 1984 and has tried to revive the old memories of this craft in today's context. Though the embroidery is not always done on fine silks anymore, there has been an attempt to revive the fineness and intricacy of the stitches. So that even if a bag or cushion cover has only a small motif, it is done with the same care and precision as a motif on a royal coat.

Sasha has also organized exhibitions to generate greater awareness of this craft. This gives the group a chance to work on really intricate and exquisite pieces in completely traditional designs to display their skills fully. This also gives them a lot of pride - that they are upholding a tradition of fine work, while others have had to loose some of the exquisiteness.

They believe that only a craftsman with 25 years of experience can do really good work. Aari craftsmen begin training very young - from when they are 10 years old, and become fully qualified when they are around 30. They also believe that women cannot do this kind of work because it takes so much training, and women would only get married and take their skill away with them.

To read more about the craft of aari embroidery, please click here.
To see some beautiful examples of this craft in our bazaar section, please click here.