SECOND CHANCES

 Model LAKSHMI MENON is a purveyor and propagator for the art of rafoo. The warp and weft darning technique, best witnessed in the by-lanes of our country, is captured by BIKRAMJIT BOSE as Menon meanders through Delhi's rafoogari hotspot, Chawri Bazar

-  Akanksha Kamath 

I discovered the art of rafoo out of necessity when I moved to Mumbai at the age of 33. Some of my old shirts, ones that had kept me good company and become old friends, were fraying and needed salvaging. In fear of causing more damage with my needle, I decided to take them to the rafoogars of Byculla, where the experts could lend a skilled hand.

Right from my first encounter with a rafoogar, I knew this was an extremely fine technique. The thread of a fabric, in this case a moth-eaten cashmere shawl, was pulled and threaded onto a needle to darn with the same thread. The result is a finished job that makes the fix look like a part of the fabric. It doesn't feel alien, it just blends in.

For the shoot, I took out this old friend, and even so many years later it was still impossible to locate the rafoo. We had to hold it against the light to find the thread, like a beauty spot on a well-loved piece of cloth.