With her back arched, eyes fixed on the shaft, hands changing rhythmically and her feet pressing firmly on the pedals of a pit loom, Rajeswaramma (59) spent over 30 years of her life in low light Weaving cloth in handlooms. Maker’s hut in Pedana.
But now, due to aging and persistent knee pain, she cannot sit for as long as she used to. This has worried her. With all married children, leaving for Vijayawada in search of better opportunities and with her disabled husband, she has no one to continue weaving on her 30-year-old pit loom after she retires. So, he has decided to sell the loom in two years.
Almost all households in his colony in Pedana, a small weavers’ town near Machilipatnam in Krishna district, have a pit loom.
4,000 weaver families
“Around 4,000 families are engaged in weaving using pit looms in Pedana. In most families, the youth have left their aging parents behind for greener pastures,” said Krishna district assistant director of the handlooms and textiles department, S. Raghunandan says.
“Unfortunately, there will be no one to take up weaving after I retire,” says Ms. Rajeswaramma.
“Around 4,000 families are engaged in weaving using pit looms in Pedana. In most families, the young have left their aging parents for greener pastures”S. RaghunandanAssistant Director, Handlooms and Textiles Department, Krishna District
The skill of weaving was taught to her by her husband, who had learned it from his father. But he still must pass on his skill set to his four children. “She was never interested in weaving,” says Rajeswaramma, who relies on the income she earns to run her household of two.
₹250 for 8 hours of knitting
“I sit for eight hours a day these days to reach a target of at least 12 sarees every month,” she says. She is paid ₹250 to ₹300 by a master weaver to weave a sari, Which takes him two days to complete.
His neighbor KK Subrahmanyam (63) says the youth want to look for jobs elsewhere as there is no future here.
“We get Rs 7,000-8,000 a month for weaving 12-13 sarees. With this meager amount, we have to buy groceries, educate our children and keep something aside for use during the rainy season when we cannot work at the loom. Many of us are burdened with debt” KK SubrahmanyamWeaver, Pedana
“We get Rs 7,000-8,000 a month for weaving 12-13 sarees. With this meager amount, we have to buy groceries, educate our children and keep something aside for use during the rainy season when we cannot work at the loom. Many of us are in debt,” says Mr. Subrahmanyam, who started using looms at the age of 15. His family has been in this profession for as long as he can remember.
“Now, we are the last generation in our family to work the loom,” says the weaver whose son works in a bank.
Weaving cloth requires the contribution of all the members of the family. “But no matter how many are involved, the amount paid per saree does not exceed ₹300-₹400. Some people like Rajeswaramma get less than this. How can our children benefit from this?” he asks.
‘More needs to be done’
While he thanks the state government for providing financial assistance of ₹24,000 per year under the Netanna Nestam scheme, he says more needs to be done.
Besides, the pit looms get damaged every time it rains, and the weavers have to spend a lot to restore them. In Odisha, pits were sealed to prevent seepage in the monsoon. “But considering the city’s proximity to the sea here (Pedana Manginapudi is 15 km from the beach), it is impossible to create a crater here,” the official said.
how the system works
The raw material costing around ₹20,000 per month to weave a saree is given to them by a master weaver. He would come every month, hand over the materials to them and take back the finished product once they are done. The master weaver does not sell the saree for less than ₹1,200 in the markets of Mangalagiri.
“If only we were more educated and had access to easy loans, we didn’t need to depend on master weavers to sell our products. It’s difficult to get raw materials and hire workers when you don’t have money. We do not dare to increase the salary of the master weaver. We know that we do not get paid fairly for the work that we do. We know that the master weaver makes more profits than us. But who will listen to a lone activist? There has been no progress here,” says Mr. Subrahmanyam.
Pichuka Srinivas, known for promoting Kalamkari art, recalls that the community of weavers was doing well until 15 years ago. “In my childhood this city was full of handlooms. Later, with education becoming more accessible, many youths went for higher education. While this is good, only a few have returned to work at the loom. The government should take the initiative so that people do not have to look for jobs elsewhere,” he says, adding that handloom weaving in Pedana may be a thing of the past in the next 15 years.
Awareness should be raised about the importance of traditional handloom weaving. “A person pays $1,500 for a one-hour knitting course in Australia. But the condition of handloom centers here is pathetic.