Coimbatore weavers survive against all odds

If you consult with the Nesavar Colony (weavers) in Ondipudur, do not be surprised in case you are welcomed by the clickety-clack sound of handlooms. A host of handloom weavers have made the locality their house for years. They have even transformed a portion of their humble abodes for the warp and the weft. Most of the households have passed at the profession from one technology to some other and on occasion, the entire family is concerned in the procedure. Right from hand-spinning the fibre and changing it into threads, warping and changing it into beautiful saris, the weavers do all of it.
V Ramalingam and his spouse Mallika start their day at 4.30 am. “I have been weaving for the closing 50 years. The simplest profession my parents knew was weaving they usually taught me the work as neatly. When I first got to work at the yarn, I used to be hardly ever ten. I had to discontinue research and work to fulfill the expenses. Even lately, my spouse and I spend 14 hours a day at the yarn.”

V Nataraja, some other weaver who has been in the industry for 56 years, tells us, “We take orders from Weavers Cooperative Society and give them the finished product. I whole 10 to 12 saris in a month. There was a time after we had greater than 100 weaving devices on this colony. But, now there are simplest 7 devices. Most of them have surrender this profession and moved on to other trade.”


Agreeing along with his Ramalingam, “When I began out, I was paid Rs 20 in step with day. It was simplest larger to Rs 200 now. An average sari takes two days to be made. Though this has been our family profession, my youngsters have taken up other jobs. At this charge, the handloom industry will stop to exist in twenty years.”


The introduction of energy loom has taken a toll at the traditional weaving. R Rangasamy, who has been on this field for greater than 50 years, says, “We have been receiving the same number of orders for a long time. It’s simplest all the way through Deepavali and Pongal that we get a few more orders. Due to the loss of handloom industries lately, our pay has reasonably long gone up. However, it doesn’t matter because the price of dwelling has sky-rocketed.


Nataraja provides, “These days, people want energy loom saris, because they come at a lesser charge with identical design. Though handloom is costlier, the standard is much better. But it seems like the standard doesn’t appear to matter anymore. The irony is that even though the cost of handloom saris are costlier, we don’t get a lot of the benefit, since the fabrics costs a lot and therefore the price. On an average, we get paid around Rs 400 in step with sari. It wasn’t any other in the past but the price of dwelling was inexpensive.” Though the weavers stare at a bleak long term, the weavers are making sure that they survive towards all odds.


Coimbatore weavers survive against all odds Coimbatore weavers survive against all odds Reviewed by Kailash on November 30, 2018 Rating: 5
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