Guwahati: With campaigning for the general election in full swing, Assam’s Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma passionately declared that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the “brand ambassador” of the ‘gamusa’, the quintessential cultural symbol of the state woven with flowers and other intricate designs.
And Biswa Sarma would not be incorrect. This Assamese scarf definitely does have a ‘Modi connection.’
Over the years, the Prime Minister has shown up to key events wearing the garment, lending it immense visibility. After all, the 14th Indian Prime Minister is the most-followed world leader on several social media sites, including Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). Last year, he was seen wearing the garment at a mass yoga demonstration at the UN headquarters lawns that snatched a Guinness World Record.
In fact, over the years, Modi has been seen wearing the Assamese-origin scarf several times while performing yoga. Sarbananda Sonowal, Biswa Sarma’s predecessor, had once remarked that Modi exhibited to the world “the skill of Assamese weavers” by donning the gamusa on Yoga Day.
As COVID-19 ravaged the world in 2020-21, the Prime Minister found another use for the Assamese scarf: he famously remodeled it as a mask. He claimed it could offer protection against the virus as surgical masks were getting sold out amid nationwide panic buying sprees. He later donned it as he took a vaccine against the virus, signaling an end to the pandemic era.
Modi had brought up Assam’s traditional scarf during his famous interview with Bollywood star Akshay Kumar in the lead up to the last general election in 2019. According to the Prime Minister, he used the scarf for relief from pain before his rise to political prominence. “After a hard day’s work, whenever I used to be in pain, the gamusa of Assam used to work as a pain reliever for me, and it does so even now”, he told Kumar. “Whenever there was pain in my feet, I used to tie the traditional gamusa of Assam around my feet and it used to work wonders on me.”
Most recently, he was seen wearing the scarf around his neck during a road show in Guwahati, Assam while campaigning for the saffron party in the state.
Somewhat understandably, the gamusa is now being marketed by some sellers as “that Assamese scarf that was worn by Modi”. In fact, Mugasilk.in, a portal selling items indigenous to Assam, markets the item as ‘Modi gamcha’ in its ‘fashion’ segment. So will the ‘Modi magic’ work wonders for the traditional gamusa of the state? Only time will tell.
The traditional Gamusa’s future faces uncertainty:
Despite becoming more visible on national and international forums, thanks to Modi and the state government’s relentless endeavours, the Assamese scarf faces an uncertain future. Unfortunately for indigenous weavers, companies wielding high-tech power looms in other states can churn out large quantities of these scarves, which are then transported to Assam and sold at lower rates.
Talking to Business North East recently, Handloom & Textiles Director Paragmoni Mahanta made a pitch to "spread awareness of handwoven gamusas" and embrace of handwoven textiles in a bid to safeguard the craft of gamusa-making. Despite gamusas being indigenous to the state and receiving a Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2022, the prevalence of power loom variants continues to rise, Mahanta noted. "The export count of handwoven gamusas remains disproportionately low", he told BNE.
The official said that there is an urgent need for government intervention to curb the influx of power loom gamusas into the state. Last year, the state government announced that it would temporarily prohibit sales of power looms during the Bihu festival. In 2021, it decided to only use hand-woven gamusa and traditional food items during official functions and events to support and promote locally available products.
Despite the ongoing efforts, the hand-woven gamusa that has defined Assamese identity for long arguably faces a battle for its survival, according to senior officials.
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