When a Weaver Weaves Dubai's Ruling Family Into Silk and Silver
By Shweta Sonali — 2026-10-13
It's the sort of project you don't stumble into. Someone placed an order. Someone had a vision of what a gesture between two nations should look like, rendered in silk and silver thread.
The shawl was unveiled on October 11 at the 16th Bathukamma celebrations organised by the Emirates Telangana Cultural Association at Al Ahli Sports Club in Dubai. Thousands turned up—expatriates, migrant workers, members of the diaspora. The shawl wasn't background noise. It was the main attraction.
Which is interesting, because a handloom shawl isn't typically what draws crowds at a festival. But this one does something else. It sits between two worlds, quite literally. The precision required isn't casual.
Sircilla, in Rajanna Sircilla district, isn't new to this kind of work. The town has spent centuries perfecting handloom craftsmanship. What's different here is the scale of intention. This shawl isn't meant to sit in someone's cupboard. The Emirates Telangana Cultural Association is working on arrangements to formally present it to Dubai's ruling family—a gesture meant to acknowledge what Telangana's Gulf workers contribute to the UAE, and to strengthen cultural ties between India and the Emirates.
Two people made this possible. Balu Kayithi, CEO of Balagam TV, and Jupally Venkata Rao, a civil contractor based in Sircilla, provided the financial support. In an interview, they said something worth noting: local artisans could achieve international recognition with appropriate encouragement. They're not wrong. What we're looking at here is what happens when someone decides to take a weaver's work seriously enough to fund it, and a weaver decides to turn that trust into something that might actually matter.
Thousands of Telangana expatriates work in the Gulf. Many send money home. Some, apparently, think about how to make that relationship tangible—how to weave it into something that lasts. That's what this shawl is. A thank you, rendered in thread.