As someone who collects and wears saris eagerly, I was surprised and interested to learn that international trade with China has severely affected the artisans who create the iconic Benares/Varanasi sari;
“With our business coming to an end my six children have turned into beggars,” says Razia Biwi, wife of a silk weaver in the northern city of Varanasi. “They move from door to door with a bowl each and eat whatever the kind neighbours give them.”
The Varanasi silk industry is in turmoil.
For centuries it has produced exquisite handloom silk. Of India’s 10m weavers, this city – also known as Benaras – in Uttar Pradesh boasts nearly 13%.
…The problems started in 1995, when demand for Varanasi silk suddenly dwindled.
There was a sudden influx of Chinese silk traders, who imported cheap yarn to the local market.
They even competed against Varanasi traders by hiring local weavers from the city.
The extreme poverty has caused some to resort to drastic, disturbing measures; Ghulam Rasool of Kotwan sold his two-month old child to a wealthy family “where he would get his daily meals”. Rasool’s choice got some attention;
Their story touched the village and with its help, along with police intervention, they got back their son along with a sum of 10,000 rupees ($220) compensation from the government.
Rajan Bhal, general secretary of the Varanasi Cloth Industry, says: “This was one isolated case in the entire town where the government came to the family’s rescue.
“The government otherwise seems uninterested in reviving this traditional art in the city.”
I’ll never look at my saris in quite the same way again.
via the beeb.
First I find out how they modernized the sari weaving process, now I find out that the silk weavers are no longer economically viable.
They clearly need even better marketing. “It’s not a varanasi sari unless it’s made from varanasi silk!” Ooooh, or like Champagne they could get a court ruling to that effect. Make the state step in …
I feel bad about the individual weavers but what’s really sad is how these guys were never able to achieve scale economies (and the wealth!) of the folks on the other side of the Sino- border.
For heavens sake, if there was a single industry where India could / should have a First Mover advantage, a massive Skillset headstart, a massive & insanely sophisticated domestic market, and an acute knowledge of shifting consumer tastes, this should be it.
Where do I put the blame? Well, I’m sure the License Raj is more than wrapped up in this as was Gandhi & crew’s misguided utopian vision of the small artisan. But I think many of the underlying memes are wrapped up in the concluding statement –
How sadly ironic that just as the Chinese are flexing their muscle here by getting the government OUT of the way, these guys are asking for more government.
I am from Varanasi, And I have seen the suffering of these weavers….Silk saress are still selling like hot cakes and very profitable business for some. The problem is … the middel man between Weaver and the consumer(we), the shopkeepers and so called ‘Gaddiwalas’ (one with big shop)… eats all the profit …
For ex: a WEAVER makes a saree in 2 weeks ..the raw material costs him around 500 RS. When He goes to these shops to sell .. they say “I can offer only 450 for this old design, Nobody is buying these nowadays” … AFTER THAT … deal fixes at around 550… If weaver is lucky… and the same saree he sells in his shop for around 1000-1250 Rs….. In south INDIA ..the same will sell for 2000 Rs.
No wonder, Why this city’s richest list … dominated by these ‘Gaddiwallas’.
I am wondering why any organisation is not coming to help these weavers. They need a place where they can sell and get the resonable rates…