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Weaving family in Ri Bhoi helps in preserving & promoting eri silk

Nabamita Mitra


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Shillong: The vision of three enterprising siblings from Ri Bhoi is helping in the promotion and preservation of the tradition of weaving eri silk.

Memorial Tmung, Pastor Precious Tmung and Lucky Tmung of Diwon village under Umden in Ri Bhoi started their venture Zong Hi-I in 2013 with a capital of about Rs 5 lakh. Now, the co-owners of the shop in Shillong that sells clothes made from eri silk, locally called ryndia, earn about Rs 3-4 lakh a month.

The shop was recently featured in an article on eri silk in Elle fashion magazine.

eri silk

Zong Hi-I means ‘our own’ in English. Precious, who is a professor of English, said the store was started after the siblings came back to their hometown after finishing their studies.

“We learned weaving from our grandparents. My grandmother, New Tmung, would weave eri silk in her leisure time. The products were more for personal consumption. My mother (Tander Tmung) continued this tradition,” he said.

The aim of the venture was not only to make the family weaving tradition a full-time business and promote the craft but also to help the weavers in the village earn a steady livelihood. Zong Hi-I engages 8-10 full-time weavers. The Tmungs have set up a workshed in the village where training programmes for weavers are held. Precious said the state government helped them in the training through a co-operative society.

Umden-Diwon village under Raid Nongtluh was declared Meghalaya’s first eri silk village on February 12, 2021, on the lines of Hai An Silk Village in Vietnam and Sualkuchi in neighbouring Assam.

Eri silk, which is called ryndia in Meghalaya and is produced from Samia ricini silkworms, is called the ahimsa or peace silk for the unique process of producing it. The silk is produced without killing the silkworm. This variety of silk is strong and provides the comfort of cotton in summer and the warmth of wool in winter.

The weavers in Diwon village use organic colours. Tander, who is an expert in dying the fabric, trained weavers in the use of natural colours. Facilitators from the government helped the weavers learn about new designs.

All weavers use fly shuttle looms. The designs used are also handcrafted, making each ryndia product an exclusive item. The prices of ryndia products can vary between Rs 4,500 and Rs 20,000.

When asked about exports, Precious said there was no regular exporting and supplies are made as per the demand.
While e-commerce platforms like Flipkart have contacted the Tmung family for selling their products, Precious said, “If we go online, then we have to produce at least 4-5 pieces of the same product and we cannot do it at present.”

Memorial participated in Silk in Lyon — Festival de la Soie in France last year and was amazed at the techniques that weavers worldwide use.

“We are from the traditional side of weaving and do not apply much technique. But in Lyon, I learned that so much can be done with eri silk… I realised that we have so much room for improvement,” she said.

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Nabamita Mitra