Bangalore:
If things work out for 69-year-old R Narayanappa, and his 65-year-old wife Kamalamma, a weaver couple, they'll present a stole and a scarf that can fit right in a matchbox to the President of the United States when he comes visiting in November.
The weaver couple is working day and night to weave a stole for him, and a scarf for his wife Michelle. Both will be made of silk, and will weigh just about 15 gm.
"Experimenting with weaving is my passion, and this time I thought it should reach America through Obama," said Narayanappa.
"So we are weaving the lightest stole and scarf in the world."
Narayanappa and Kamalamma have taken extra care, right from the manufacturing of raw silk to weaving the cloth.
While a normal silk yarn is weaved from multiple filaments produced with 24 cocoons, this fabric has two filaments with only three cocoons -- making it the lightest.
While preparing such a raw silk is an art, weaving the delicate filaments into yarn is a tougher task. "We prepared a special warp and weft with two cocoons and one cocoon respectively," said Narayanappa.
"It was a real challenge to keep the threads from breaking while weaving. I couldn't have achieved this without the assistance of my wife, who is also an expert weaver," he added.
The silk stole and scarf with golden borders are one yard and six yards in length respectively, and it has taken the couple almost two months to prepare them. In fact, the couple wanted to gift the lightest silk sari they have woven to the Obamas, but later changed their minds, thinking that a sari would not be practical for Michelle.
The sari is six-yards in length, and weighs 30 gm, and is made using the same technique. Even this can be folded and kept in a matchbox.
"We took almost six months to weave the sari," said Narayanappa. "I had heard that such cloth was produced in ancient India, and I wanted to show the world that India could do it even now."
However, Narayanappa doesn't know how he can reach out to Obama to present his gift, and his hope is Apple Events and Conferences, an event management firm that is organising Silk Utsav 2010, a mammoth silk expo in November, at Palace Grounds.
"We have written to the Ministry of External Affairs and Indian High Commission in the US in this regard," said Satish SR, MD. "We hope Narayanappa's dream comes true."
Expertise of TS Somashekar, former director of Central Silk Board, who is guiding Narayanappa has come as a great help, while he is also in touch with the State Silk Minister Venkataramanappa, to get permission to meet Obama during his visit.
"Narayanappa has done a great job, which deserves global recognition.Venkatramanappa has agreed to help. We are also seeking support from Union Silk Minister Dayanidhi Maran," said Somashekar.
"Nothing is finalised about Obama's visit yet. I will see what I can do, when the time comes," Venkataramanappa added.