Thirty- time-old Rashid Bin Kabeer, who works as a store in- charge of a cloth unit in Dubai, nurtures expedients of resuming his purdah manufacturing unit, Hareem Purdha, set up by his father,P.M. Kabeer, in Kozhikode in the early 90s. It was maybe Hareem Purdha and Hoorulyn Purdha, two major brands, which introduced and popularised the womanish Arab black vesture in the public sphere of Kerala in the late 90s.
Over the times, purdah came a marker of identity for Muslim women in Kerala. But among the two brands, Hareem Purdha had desisted operations, while Hoorulyn Purdha is still available in the request. When the long black dress worn by Arab Gulf women was introduced in Kerala, the dominant colour was black. The two companies were also necessary in bringing in inventions in purdah- making similar as introducing different accoutrements in colorful tinges similar as denim as part of inviting the youngish generation.
“ But the invention the company had brought in wasn’t well entered in the request in the long run and the heavy investment we made and the tough competition forced Hareem Purdha to wind up its operations four times agone . nevertheless, I’m hopeful of resuming the business, ” saysMr. Kabeer. The trends in the Arab request serve as a vital force behind the purdah assiduity in Kerala, he adds.
The line of both brands also delineates the ups and campo and changing trends in the sector.K.P. Noushad, clerk, All Kerala Purdah Manufacturers Association, a body of over 200 registered manufacturers in the State, says the purdah assiduity was at its peak in Kerala when purdahs of colorful colours ruled the request – a period before the demonetisation. Garments of different tinges were introduced also with a view to inviting women of all age groups to the dress. But the slide in the fortunes of purdah manufacturers began when the request switched again to black purdahs.
“ It’s still unclear what forced women to switch back to black purdahs. before, youthful scholars who went for religious education at madrasas used to wear purdahs of other colours. Now, maturity of them have shifted to black. Some religious ministers claimed on black reportedly due to influence from the dress law in Saudi Arabia, although Arab requests are the major trendsetters of purdah in Kerala, ” saysMr. Noushad.
The reversal to black purdahs, which now regard for over 80 of the product in the State, has also forced a considerable percent of the youngish population to gutter the Arab vesture, he adds.
Though a lot of design trends had been set in the purdah request, utmost of these were limited to handworks, embroidery, gravestone workshop, small fine fittings, along with fabrics and accoutrements similar as drone, nida and so on imported from Arab countries. Razool Gafoor, proprietor of Hoorulyn Purdha, which formerly announced as numerous as 1,001 types of purdahs of 313 different tinges in 786 shops, admits that around 90 of his business now deals with black purdahs.
With regard toregion-wise requests, north Kerala is dominated by black purdahs, however there’s still a clear request for coloured purdahs among the moderate Muslims in central and south Kerala but where the community is sparsely populated, says Ahammed Firoz, proprietor of Almira Purdah, Kozhikode.