So, where did you go shopping on your trip to India this time? I have always visited the little handloom shop in Pondy Bazaar, Chennai. I buy my share of handicrafts that come from Orissa and Bengal which I gift to my friends here in the U.S.
Jayanthi and Uma, aunts from my husband's side took me to a handloom fair in Chennai to shop for my kurtis. This fair was put together by Co Optex(The Tamil Nadu handloom weavers cooperative society) to bring an awareness among people by presenting, not branded products but designs from local weavers and small handloom businesses from all over India.
The designs were beautiful, affordable and above all the quality was good. I ended up buying a few saris too !
There are three important sections involved in the handloom industry, the weaver, the trader and the government.
Of the three sections involved, due to the increase in prices of raw material the most affected in this industry are the weavers.
The government provides policies for the formation of cooperative societies in the handloom industry.
A cooperative society is a form of voluntary association where individuals unite for mutual aid in the production and distribution of wealth upon principles of equity, reason and common good. It stands for distributive justice and asserts the principle of equity and equality ensuring to all those engaged in the production of wealth a share proportionately commensurate with the degree of their contribution. It provides as a substitute for material assets, honesty and sense of moral obligation and keeps in view the moral rather than the material sanction.
Though there are many such cooperative societies in India, there are many more weavers who are still not under their purview.
Poverty and the lack of proper economic policies for these weavers have led many (along with their families) to commit suicide.
Here is an open letter to the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh on one such cases.
http://fian.org/cases/open-letters/india-andhra-pradesh-weavers-starve-and-commit-suicide
This letter was published by FIAN (Face It Act Now), an international organisation that fights for a world free from hunger. It has consultative status to the U.N.
Like many working houswives, my aunt has her little business of selling saris, but with a difference... She buys her saris directly from a weaver, with no middle man involved... Coming to think of it, she is contributing in her own special way..
So the next time you go shopping, cut the middle man (The a/c showrooms with huge racks, escalators to take you from the first to the third floor or more..).. Look out for these small time handloom stores or even better find a weaver !
Jayanthi and Uma, aunts from my husband's side took me to a handloom fair in Chennai to shop for my kurtis. This fair was put together by Co Optex(The Tamil Nadu handloom weavers cooperative society) to bring an awareness among people by presenting, not branded products but designs from local weavers and small handloom businesses from all over India.
The designs were beautiful, affordable and above all the quality was good. I ended up buying a few saris too !
There are three important sections involved in the handloom industry, the weaver, the trader and the government.
Of the three sections involved, due to the increase in prices of raw material the most affected in this industry are the weavers.
The government provides policies for the formation of cooperative societies in the handloom industry.
A cooperative society is a form of voluntary association where individuals unite for mutual aid in the production and distribution of wealth upon principles of equity, reason and common good. It stands for distributive justice and asserts the principle of equity and equality ensuring to all those engaged in the production of wealth a share proportionately commensurate with the degree of their contribution. It provides as a substitute for material assets, honesty and sense of moral obligation and keeps in view the moral rather than the material sanction.
Though there are many such cooperative societies in India, there are many more weavers who are still not under their purview.
Poverty and the lack of proper economic policies for these weavers have led many (along with their families) to commit suicide.
Here is an open letter to the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh on one such cases.
http://fian.org/cases/open-letters/india-andhra-pradesh-weavers-starve-and-commit-suicide
This letter was published by FIAN (Face It Act Now), an international organisation that fights for a world free from hunger. It has consultative status to the U.N.
Like many working houswives, my aunt has her little business of selling saris, but with a difference... She buys her saris directly from a weaver, with no middle man involved... Coming to think of it, she is contributing in her own special way..
So the next time you go shopping, cut the middle man (The a/c showrooms with huge racks, escalators to take you from the first to the third floor or more..).. Look out for these small time handloom stores or even better find a weaver !
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