From a family practice to successful business, Tmung siblings make a mark in eri

Shillong, Jan 27: Memorial Tmung, Pastor Precious Tmung and Lucky Tmung of Diwon village under Umden in Ri Bhoi have turned a family practice into a lucrative business, Zong Hi-I, which was recently mentioned in Elle fashion magazine.

Zong Hi-I translates to ‘our own’ in English and is aptly named as the venture is a close-knit community’s efforts to preserve and promote a well-guarded tradition of weaving eri silk. The Tmung siblings are the third generation of weavers.

“We learned 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,” said Precious, who is a professor of English.

Memorial recollected how as children all the siblings would help the elders with the weaving. “This is how we learned about the entire process. Though I am not a technical person in weaving, but I know the processes. It is in our genes,” she said.

The three siblings started the shop in Shillong’s Umsohsun in 2013 when they came back to their home state after completing higher studies. The aim was to make the family weaving tradition a full-time business and promote the craft as well as help other weavers in the village earn a steady livelihood.

“Before we started the venture, it was part-time work for us. We did involve weavers from the village but would not recruit them for full-time work. We would engage weavers whenever they would be free. In 2013, we started a work shed with about 10 regular weavers. That is how we increased production. Also, this provided economic empowerment to women weavers,” informed Precious.

The Tmung family also worked closely with the state government to work under a co-operative society that provided training to the weavers in collaboration with the state and the central governments.

According to Memorial, the boom in eri silk products happened about five years ago. Before that, it was locally produced and consumed and not many knew about it. Now, the state government helps in the promotion and marketing of the products.

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. Generally, silk cocoons are boiled with the worm inside to maintain a continuous filament. But eri silkworm spins short segments of a filament creating a cocoon that is open at one end. This enables the worm to crawl out and weavers can use the cocoon for making silk. This variety of silk, which is extremely popular in Assam and Meghalaya, is very strong and combines the qualities of silk with the comfort of cotton and the warmth of wool.

In Diwon village, the weavers also use organic colours for the fabric. While Precious and Memorial would provide theoretical training, the master weavers in the workshop provided practical lessons. Tander, who is an expert in dying the fabric, would train weavers in the use of natural colours. Facilitators from the government helped the weavers learn about new designs.

“After we received training from external facilitators, we now use scientific methods to make natural colours. We do some research and development of our own to make the perfect blend of colours,” said the 35-year-old professor.

Zong Hi-I, which is co-owned by the three siblings, takes orders on social media which are then distributed among the weavers employed in the village. All weavers use fly shuttle looms and there is no use of power loom. The designs used are also handcrafted, making each ryndia product an exclusive item.

The siblings started the shop with a capital of about Rs 5 lakh. During the pandemic too, the weaving continued. The Tmungs would deliver the yarn to the weavers and then collect the finished products.

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 pointed out the practical problems in doing so. “Ours is not mass production. But if we go online, then we have to produce at least 4-5 pieces of the same product and we do not have the bandwidth to do that now. The process of making ryndia clothes is also slow,” he explained.

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. Our production cannot even meet local demand, and so, we never thought of going international. However, the visit to Lyon changed my perspective and I realised that we have so much room for improvement,” said the 37-year-old eri entrepreneur.

While weavers in Meghalaya make traditional attire using ryndia or eri silk, there remains scope for producing contemporary clothing. Memorial said ryndia’s thermal control quality makes it a fabric for all seasons and can be marketed as clothes other than the traditional ones.

“But there are problems. For instance, not all natural colours are available in all seasons and we cannot make a product of a particular colour if it is unavailable. Also, it will require techniques to diversify,” she opined.

The Tmungs have approached the government for better training by external resource persons so that in the long run, the ryndia products can be marketed globally. “If we expand the venture and the government helps, then it will not only help Zong Hi-I but other weavers too,” Memorial said.