The village has more than 200 families who are into this business.
Gadag :
It takes a village to sew quilts.As you enter Jantli Shirur village, you see womenfolk sitting outside their houses busy sewing colourful patterns.People of Gadag and surrounding districts visit the village to buy quilts as the winter starts. This winter too saw the village engaged in stitching these winter warmers.But the ‘yarning gap’ between their hard work and the price they get is a matter of concern, say the villagers.
The village has more than 200 families who are into this business. They sell one quilt for Rs 650 to Rs 1,000 depending on the fabrics they get. They take four days to make one quilt and need four workers to coordinate. The thread they use is Rs 300 per kg and they source it from Mumbai. It is called ‘noolu daara’, a strong thin thread, which cannot be broken easily by hand. Nearly half a kg of thread is used to make one quilt.
They get about 1,000 to 2,000 orders from Huvin Hadagali, Hubballi, Dharwad, Belagavi, Gadag, Benagaluru and even from Andhra Pradesh and Maharasthra.A quilt is made by sewing two or more layers of fabric together to make a thicker padded material. These are used in every house in North Karnataka.
Nirmalavva Navalagund, a resident, says, “We get orders from some agents who supply us with the cloth. They pay us Rs 800 to Rs 1,000 per quilt for sewing and sell it for Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,500, making a neat profit. Though we are not paid much, what brings satisfaction is the praise that our quilts have a long life.”
In the Metros, these quilts are sold in the price range of Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000.
Basavva Alur, another quilt maker, says, “We finish our daily work in the morning and start stitching quilt from morning 9 to evening 6. We stitch one big quilt in a span of two days and sometimes it takes four days depending on the size. We do not know any other work than this. We request the government or NGOs to help us to get a good platform and also protect this heritage of our village.”
If you stitch the pieces of history together, you find that the art of quilt making in this village dates back to over 150 years. Those days, people in other parts became commercial and used to use cheap material. Soon, they lost customers. But the ancestors of this village seized the opportunity and used good materials and showed expertise in sewing. Their unique style of making small stitches soon spread and their business blossomed. Thus, the villagers continued this tradition.
But today they are concerned that they don’t get a fair price for their hard work. What bothers them equally is that youngsters giving up this traditional occupation and moving to cities for a better livelihood.
How they get orders
Jantli Shirur villagers go to nearby villages and collect clothes, some new and some old, to make quilts. Some businessmen visit the village and place orders and give clothes and get the quilts made while some people buy readymade quiltsmade with new fabrics. The price varies from Rs 800 to Rs 1,000
Common thread
These villagers who stitch their lives together with the little money they get making quilts say they don’t get a fair price. Though they are paid Rs 800 to Rs 1,000 per quilt, these bright and colourful products are sold by agents for Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 per piece in the Metros, and Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,500 in towns.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Raghottam Koppar / Express News Service / February 17th, 2019