A Video Presentation on 'Indian Weavers' [composed by Bharat Kokila - Sarojini Naidu] & PDF Link
Channel: Sudhir Khullar
Date: 2020-04-21

PDF link to summary and appreciation: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I5cX28FtBnWkRKpPjsRLy5mWdvCF9vzI/view?usp=sharing
I call the entire poem an epigram which means very short and pithy statement while conveying the life message i.e. - 
पहला बचपन, दूसरा जवानी, और आखिर मे  बुढ़ापा जिसे हम मौत का गहरा दोस्त कहते हैं वो जीव को धीरे धीरे अपनी शरण मे ले लेती है। 
So, there are three stanzas.
The poem:
Weavers, weaving at break of day,
Why do you weave a garment so gay? . . .
Blue as the wing of a halcyon wild,
We weave the robes of a new-born child.

Weavers, weaving at fall of night,
Why do you weave a garment so bright? . . .
Like the plumes of a peacock, purple and green,
We weave the marriage-veils of a queen.

Weavers, weaving solemn and still,
What do you weave in the moonlight chill? . . .
White as a feather and white as a cloud,
We weave a dead man's funeral shroud.
The first stanza is about childhood symbolized by blue colour of halcyon, I mean kingfisher or another mythical bird, which is bright, optimistic and charming (gay)
The second is about adulthood or youth symbolized by purple or green colour of the plumes of peacock.
The third is white - no colour. I mean the red, blue and green, the primary colours of life mixed in equal proportions give us a colour which is white or grey. White means death. Funerals happen in white. Burial cloth is white, condolence givers come in white, the white cloud in the moonlit night floats fast to signify an end of a life.
In the first stanza, the poet asks the weavers why they are weaving clothes early in the morning which seem to be quite beautiful and charming (I mean gay). The clothes are blue as the wing of a halcyon wild. The wings are bright blue in colour. The poet is curious to know about them.
The Indian Weavers reply, We weave the robes of a new-born child.
In this stanza, the first stage of human life i.e.morning is described. This stage is full of happiness, freshness, hope, beauty etc. There is no sorrow in this stage.
In the second stanza, the poet again meets the Indian Weavers, this time during the dusk, a colourful evening when most of the marriages take place. It symbolizes Youth.
The poet questions the weavers why they weave a garment so bright like the plumes of a peacock, purple and green. The garment at this time is bright and full of colours like feathers of peacock unlike the previous blue.
The weavers reply that they weave the marriage-veils of a queen, thus referring to the second stage of the life. During this stage, humans are quite active. They love each other, get married to lead a successful life with हम दो, हुमारे दो!
The colours purple and green symbolize sorrow and happiness, or struggle and ease or friction and smoothness, mood swings etc. in adult stage, and these colours or ups and downs of life make the adulthood brighter, more energetic, enjoyable, challenging and attractive. So is the expression 'The plumes of a peacock, purple and green’.
In the final stanza, the poet finds the weavers still and sorrowful while weaving something weird in the moonlit chill i.e. in the dead of the night. It is a white shroud resembling white feather and as white as a floating cloud in the night. It’s lifeless, colourless and mute. Poet asks them what are they weaving and not why are they weaving. Mind you, in the previous two stanzas, the poet asks ‘Why’, and in the last stanza she asks ‘What. They reply that they are weaving shroud कफन  for a dead person.
The white feather has come out from the wing, the floating cloud is not fixed i.e. life floats out of a body. We can’t locate him or her in his or her house tomorrow or forever. Thus the 3rd and the final stage is death. In this way, a colourful life which begins with joy, hope and optimism, travels through challenges, rewards, respectable positions, money and what not,and ends with sorrow and grief. A sweet brook or a river ultimately submits itself to a brackish ocean. This is applicable on each living being on this earth, I mean You as well as I.

SUDHIR KHULLAR
PGT, AEJC, ANUSHAKTINAGAR
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