Balaji is a silk weaver, who works in a small-scale powerloom unit in Cubbonpet, a locality in the historic Pete area in Bangalore. The Pete is known for the intrinsic relationship between occupation and community making it the quintessential local trading centre to study in the city1. One such relationship is of the weaving cluster in Cubbonpet and Sudhamanagar having a long history that dates back to the seventeenth century or earlier. If Balaji was to weave in the early eighteenth century Pete, in most probability he would belong to one of the four dominant weaving castes of Pattegaras, Shayanagaru, Devangas or Cuttery, known for sophisticated hand woven silk or high quality cotton cloth2. These communities lived together, worked together
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This time with the congress party actively promoting the craft in support of the weavers. In order to sway them in Congress Party's favour to mobilise people across imperial India to resist colonial rule. After the independence, the textile industry was temporarily taken over by large-scale mills (remains of the colonial setup) that spurred the growth by becoming the largest employment provider in the city. Similar to the case of other cities like Mumbai, the restrictions on the diversification or capacity-expansion of the mill produced product slowly killed the mills in Bangalore6. The shutting of the mills saw the rise of small-scale looms again, increasing the number of handloom units converting to powerlooms in …show more content…
Twelve years ago, Balaji learnt the craft of weaving silk cloth on a handloom as an apprentice. Soon after the apprenticeship Balaji chose to work in a small-scale unit of mechanised looms in Cubbonpet, knowing this meant more than 90km of daily commute after a twelve hour working day; no provision for ESI or PF by the employer; non-paid time-off from work; and all this for a piece-work wage of ₹100-400 per Saree (approx ₹ 2500-3000 per week). He is not considered as a craftsman or part of an important community. The current policy distinction between handloom and powerloom makes him merely a labourer part of the workforce in
This time with the congress party actively promoting the craft in support of the weavers. In order to sway them in Congress Party's favour to mobilise people across imperial India to resist colonial rule. After the independence, the textile industry was temporarily taken over by large-scale mills (remains of the colonial setup) that spurred the growth by becoming the largest employment provider in the city. Similar to the case of other cities like Mumbai, the restrictions on the diversification or capacity-expansion of the mill produced product slowly killed the mills in Bangalore6. The shutting of the mills saw the rise of small-scale looms again, increasing the number of handloom units converting to powerlooms in …show more content…
Twelve years ago, Balaji learnt the craft of weaving silk cloth on a handloom as an apprentice. Soon after the apprenticeship Balaji chose to work in a small-scale unit of mechanised looms in Cubbonpet, knowing this meant more than 90km of daily commute after a twelve hour working day; no provision for ESI or PF by the employer; non-paid time-off from work; and all this for a piece-work wage of ₹100-400 per Saree (approx ₹ 2500-3000 per week). He is not considered as a craftsman or part of an important community. The current policy distinction between handloom and powerloom makes him merely a labourer part of the workforce in