Farmers
Community by sharing :
The origin of majority of Shahpur and Ratanpur farmers is Gandhinagar. The huge acres of land, that is now being constantly sold to the Government for development, was originally used for farming different crops, giving rise to a number of farmer communities.
The second generation of those farmers are also dependant majorly on farming.
On the basis of the trade and activities performed the whole community can
be divided in the following way : (Fig – 1)

There is an inter-twinning of all these three segments, where each one is some how contributing or getting benefited from the other segment.

Community by resources :
The resources needed for the community:
Seeds – Depending on the type of crops or trees grown:
- Crops (Bajra, Gehun) – Chilora, Kalol, Mensa.
- Fruits and vegetables – From shops.
The produce is majorly sold in the wholesale markets.
- Crops – Dungapur, Santapur.
- Fruits and vegetables – Sector 24, Gandhinagar.
Infrastructural resources are either bought or rented and borrowed from the neighbouring segments. (eg – farmers working on rented land gets tractor from the land owners, and pays them some money.)
In the above diagram (Fig -1), the inflow of resources from one segment to the other in the community can be seen.

Communication patterns :
Mostly the medium of verbal communications is done in ‘Gujrati’. Very few people know ‘Hindi’.
The rates of all the crops are fixed, so when the farmers go to sell these crops in the market, they don’t have much to bargain for. But the rates of the fruits and vegetables are not fixed, and so one can see an interesting communication pattern of fixing the rates and selling their merchandise. In this case rates are fixed by covering the hands of the buyer and the farmer with a cloth, and picking different fingers of the buyer to indicate the amount that the farmers are ready to sell their merchandise in.
Everyone in the community has an in depth knowledge about the crops, the soil, diseases of the crops, the climate, and also the cycle of each crop, fruit, or vegetable that they grow. It was interesting to see that this knowledge was not given to them by any government help or any kind of formal training or education, but was acquired by experience, and training from the elders in the field. They have their own method of touching and identifying the nature of the soil, without any scientific mechanism.

Community by income source :
The community’s major income is selling the fruits, vegetables, and crops to the whole sale market, or to the landlord. But the period of dependency on this is limited to the time period taken by the crop to grow. During the free time they (farmers who working on rented fields or labourers) adhere to various other means of income, like, doing some small job in a carpenters shop, or doing some electrical work. Farmers who own the land have other sources of income too.
They keep animals like buffaloes, cows and sell their milk, or they keep horses and rent them out for marriages. They also keep Tractors, for renting to the other segments of the community.

Common pattern :
The trade and the lifestyle of the community is different amongst its different segments ( land owners, landlords being broady combined for one segment, and labourers,working farrmers being combined for the econd segment) but similar inside its own segment.

The chart shows the similarity and differences of the segments of the community

Inmates at the Sabarmati Central Prison














Sabarmati Central prison is located in D cabin area of Ahmadabad. While crossing the Torrent Bridge the green section on both sides of the bridge is the Open Jail area. The jail is over 100 years old. Famous people like Gandhi, Sardar Patel and Tilak have been kept here. Right now the total inmates in the Jail is around 3300 including the under trials (Kachha Kaidi).The convicted and the people who are serving a term there are the ones who are employed in the Jail Industries. Some of these Inmates who have spent more than 75% of their term and have had a clear record in the jail are sent to the open jail. Where they are not confined to the prison walls, but are allowed to work in fields or in the dairy or in the Jail Bhajiya Center. Also the prison staff is part of this community as they are the people who are responsible for all the decisions and issues with the jail industries and inmates.


Parameters that make them a community
Common Resources:
These inmates use all the resources available to all. The incentive of good work is a favor not money. They all have to follow a strict daily routine, which in turn keeps them healthy and fit. They all use the currency used inside the jail . Their wages are set no matter how well they work. Their wages are called as VARDI. It is as follows
Skilled: Rs 20,
Semiskilled: Rs 18,
Unskilled: Rs 16.



Community by Communication:
No matter what there crimes are of what language they speak all the inmates get use to common terminology in the jail. They follow the instructions very religiously because this is the only way to have a few extra privileges in the jail. There is a strange Harmony in the jail industry, the guard or in charge of the industry is like the floor supervisor of any industry. They share a common social background, and thus are at ease in understanding each other.


Community by Sharing:
These inmates are majorly from north Gujarat as this is the only central prison in this part of the state. They all have gone through the similar judicial proceedings, thus they understand each other well enough. They have a seniority pattern that they follow. They are quite aware about things happening in the outside world and try to update each other about that (e.g.: the swine flue). They share the same accommodation and clothing, food, luxuries (water cooler).





Over view of livelihood, Education and Environment:
A day in the jail starts at 5 am in the morning. Where in they go through their daily routine and a daily head counting is done at 6am. The industry segment is opened around 6 am .The morning Tea and lunch is served at the industries segment only. The work is distributed as per skill and requirement in each of the departments. The day’s work is a major source of recreation and easing. The work in jail is although not a major source of income however, it is an essential for liberty from certain restrictions. Most of the inmates are from small towns and are not educated. Since it is a Central Prison most of the inmates are the ones with long terms. The inmates in the OPEN JAIL are the ones who have served most of their term. They are employed in office activities and other stuff where they are allowed moving out of the confinements. The regulation is majorly in the hands of the jail authorities. They take major decisions for the welfare of inmates in the jail. There a re a restricted number of visits that are provided for the family members, for instance all sisters were allowed to meet their brothers and tie RAKHI on the occasion Rakshabandhan.

Observations at a fish market.

Community Selection criteria:

The fish market behind the power house is very popular among the Gandhinagar residents. With just three fish mongers the community is small and closely connected. Manju Bhen the oldest in the community acts as the spokesperson for all of them. All my questions were answered by her, even the other members of the community preferred Manju bhen to do the talking.

Profiles of the community members:

Manju Bhen:

Manju Bhen is in her early fifties. She is loud, talks a lot and knows her trade very well. The other members in the community look up to her. She is married and has five kids (four daughters and one son). Three of her daughters are married and settled. Her youngest daughter has studied till 8^th standard. Manju Bhen has been selling fish for the past seven years and her husband also helps her. She is not educated and she lives in a chawl in sector – 21 for which she pays no rent.

Ibrahim Bhai:

He is 35 years old. Before getting into the fish business he was selling meat. He is in the business for the past four years. He is married and has two kids (one boy and girl).

Dhanu Bhen:

She is in her late forties. Communication was a problem because of her ability to only understand Gujrati.

Community by sharing:

Members of the community hail from different parts of Gujarat and share very few traditions among themselves. For example Ibrahim Bhai is a Muslim, he doesn’t share common traditions or practices with the other members of the community. But what they share commonly is the way they have evolved as fish mongers. All of them have spent more than five years in the business and have struggled to reach where they are now.

Common income source:

The fish market opens around 8’o clock in the morning and shuts around 7 in the night. The business is brisk between 8 to 10 and 5 to 7 in the weekdays, in the weekends there is business throughout the day.

Though the community sells fishes, variety changes from person to person. Manju Bhen usually has more variety than the rest.

Selling fish is the major source of income for the members of the community. Though there are other minor sources of income (for example Manju bhen’s daughter works as a maid in the neighbourhood houses) the community is solely dependent on the fish market.

Common Resources:

The community shares a small piece of land behind the Gandhinagar powerhouse. The land is illegal but they have managed to hold onto this place for quite some time. There is no proper infrastructure to display the fishes or to store them. Each one owns a plastic ice box where they store the fishes. The shops are very basic and temporary. They are just four sticks put together and covered with a thick plastic sheet for protection.

Every day they set out in the morning for their daily purchase from the meat and fish market in Teen Darwaza. They have a regular auto driver who charges them 400 rupees for a round trip. The transportation charges are shared equally. They buy their ‘maal’ (produce in their language) mainly on credit.

They price the products ten rupees more than the actual rate. Ten rupees is a standard profit margin but the margin changes according to the customers. Prices are also highly dependent on weather conditions, variety, availability, quality of the fish and the time.

The customer base consists of large number of south Indians and the people from the nearby army settlement. One important factor about this community is they don’t compete with each other. So they don’t try to fight or out smart one another.

Communication pattern:

As mentioned earlier the community shares the same space, common produce and a common consumer base. Moreover the difficulty in getting fresh fish in Gandhinagar drives people to this market. The only other option is the state run fish shop in sector 21. So they really don’t advertise or attract the consumers find them wherever they are. Manju Bhen cited the example of a business man who travels all the way from Adalaj to the fish market.

EARTHEN POTS (Matkas, Kundi pots)

EARTHEN POTS (Matkas, Kundi pots)

Overview:

So most of us just fill bottles of water and store it in the refrigerator and drink it after a while. Today we are going to give to a better deal - earthen pots…A wonderful way to cool drinking water and without consuming any electricity whatsoever.

Called “Matka” in Hindi, earthen pots are the most effective way to cool water to just the right temperature. Unlike refrigerators which over-cool water, the pots cool them just right.

How does an earthen pot cool water?

Evaporative Cooling

Assuming the earthenware pot absorbs some of the water in it (which it will if it is not sealed with a glaze or other coating), then the outside of the pot will be slightly moistened. As this moisture on the pot evaporates, the temperature of the pot is reduced due to evaporative cooling (same way sweat cools the body). This cooling effect will keep the temperature of the pot lower then it would otherwise be. This effect will only work as long as the outside of the pot is kept moist.

Livelihood, education and environment:

• Three families living together ( Father and mother and their two sons along with their wives and children)
• Total number of family members Nine
• Number of members working on the pots three, father and the two sons.
• Women are good with numbers and they can read as well .
• Each morning they get up at 6 am.
• They take care of the day to day routines.
• No mode of transport.
• Make kundi (earthen pots) for a living.
• Food is prepared on the Chula ( a small fire place which they also use wood )
• They use steel utensils for cooking.
• They make roti’s daily and their favorite food is gawar.

Education:

• Both children in one family are going to school (both boys). There is a sense of pride having 2 kids both boys.
• One is studying in the 4^th std while the other is studying in the 1^st std
• The school is very close to their home.
• The women in the family are good with numbers and can read, however are not educated.
• The men haven’t been formally educated either.
• However they are aware of their trade, How to count (mostly in gujarati)
• They are aware of how to receive calls on the phone, however they are a little hesitant while dialing numbers, because they seldom make calls.

Environment:

• They live together yet separately. ( there is a partition in the house that gives each family their space.)
• They live a very simple life. Minimalistic. Don’t have any furniture or any electronic gadgets apart from an outdated TV which doesn’t receive any signals.
• They live in a sturdy house and do have other infrastructure which is mainly used for work.
• Food is prepared on the Chula ( a small fire place which they also use wood )
• They use steel utensils for cooking.
• They make roti’s daily and their favorite food is gawar.
• Schools for the children are located nearby.
• There are four doctors in the village and two temples.

Common source Of income:

• They share a common source of income that comes from making and selling Kundi pots
• They do this for 8 months a year.
• The other 4 months they spend searching for any labor work.

Communication Pattern:

• They communicate mostly in gujarati, but can also speak in hindi (useful when talking to us).
• They are able to understand hand gestures.
• Communication between vendors (Vapari) and suppliers takes place in gujarati.
• The language used to communicate with one another is also gujarati.

Common resources:

• They all use the same resources (Built by them)
• Get the raw material from the same vendor.

Common pattern:

• It is a seasonal vocation and is carried out after the monsoons for 8 months.
• The off season is used to do any labor that can bring some additional income to the family.
• They worship Chandki ma (Mother Earth).
• Have been doing this for 3 generations.

Ganesha Idol making community

Community by trade- My previous post was more like an overview of the community .In last few days I have been able to create a structure of the community,why is this community, a "community by trade" , what are social and cultural beliefs, livelihood, lifestyle, living standard, and status of education in this community.I have tried to find out by observing and asking people of this community. Environment

Lifestyle and living standard-As a community there living standard,houses,facilities and poblems are also same.Most of them live in combined family.Whole family contributes in making the idols.Most of the space of their small houses is occupied with big and small,finished and unfinished ganesha idols.

Education-I did some basic research about status of education including formal and informal education both,like hygene, health and social awareness.As per the formal education is concern only a few childeren go to the school.Some of them have left school and some of them never went to school.Some health awareness programmes are organised by muncipal people and very few families have TV which is another source of informal education.basic education facilities are poor but as far as transaction of money is concern both male and female are able to do required calculation related to their trade . People I met-During my visit to the community I talked to people about their profession,history,, family,culture,beliefs ,tradition and status of women in the family.I met people of every age group from 5 year old childeren to a 75 years old man.Everyone had some stories to share.most of the families have been living in gujrat for last 150 years.They follow gujrati and rajasthani tradition and worship dashamata and keep fast for 10 days.They speak gujrati and wear rajasthani costumes and jeweleries.

Production process of plaster of paris idols-Observation of production process of pop ganesha idols,raw material used, distribution of work among family members in the whole process. Main raw material used for making idols is plaster of paris, water, coconut fiber to mix with pop,paint for finishing and coloring.Whole family contributes in making idols.Males generally make molds and the pop idols and women help in finishing and painting of idols.

The Potters of Adalaj

If you skip the right turn to Adalaj Wav and go straight ahead instead, it may seem like a pretty bad decision. The outskirts of Adalaj village are like any other place, the proximity to the highway dictating the environment above all else. Just after the huge petrol pump, there flashes by on the left side, a blur of pink-brown. You curse your speed, turn around your vehicle, travel on the wrong side of the road and then decide it was certainly worth it. Its like being in a terracotta garden. Strewn across fifty meters are shops selling terracotta clay articles of almost every conceivable use.


Conventional terracotta articles like pots and vessels are present in abundance, matkas with metal taps being the largest article in demand. But as you step inside, you begin to marvel at the ingenuity of man. Wind chimes, mini idols encased in acryclic and gold cases, horses, elephants, gods with LED lights, all made from terracotta, are strewn around the shops. Two enthusiatic young boys are showing me around. They are both called Chetan. They are maternal cousins and totally unrelated to our NID Chetan.


They introduce me to their grandfather, a wizened old man with a million wrinkles and absolutely no interest in what I am doing. Through broken Hindi-Gujarati and vigorous hand callisthenics, I begin to understand the world of Chimanbhai Prajapati.

Potters for over five generations, the Prajapatis had moved to Gujarat from Jaipur over 200 years ago. Chimanbhai and his son Raghunathbhai are just one out of the seven potters who live together by the side of the Sabarmati-Mehsana highway. Their houses are sturdy and well built and all of them have the same structure. Pottery workshop at the back of the house, the rooms of the house, a facade where the painting work happens and finally the shop, an ever increasing lane of terracotta goods that threatens to overrun the higway. Terracotta work happens for eight months of the year, during the monsoons the wheel remains silent. The main sale of goods happens through exhibitions organized by the Government of Gujarat and throught the space in front of their homes.

The terracotta is mainly transported from Saurashtra. Though the various families of potters are competing with each other, there is a sense of camraderie among them. All the potters have business cards, which stand them in good steady in exhibtions and also to give customers seeking a large order of pots. Over the years the products made from clay have changed greatly. From standard products like matkas and clay tawas, they have diversified into showcase items and also into figurines. Small figures of men in different professions like a blacksmith, weaver etc. are showcase items displayed in the shop window. The potters have also started to add value to their products. For example, they source an acryclic and gold plated display case and assemble it after inserting a terracotta god in the case. These cases are small, hardly the length of half an A4 sheet of paper. The gods are highly detailed and finely painted. The painting is done with oil paints. The gods are also carefully draped and plated jewellery is used to adorn them. The case is packaged in a smart red cardboard packaging which reads - "Gold plated export quality Gods. High quality handicraft".

The community meets the criteria as per our guidelines, sharing a common resource, means of earning a livelihood, techniques, etc. There also seems to be an opportunity for design intervention at specific leverage points. Lets see how it goes.

After spending two weeks at the marble workshop at SG highway (Rakesh Bhai) who makes marble mandirs, I have realized how even in the most straightforward trades, thinking from an outsiders perspective can bring about a postive change. He makes modular mandirs from marble. He gets jaalis, pillars etc. from his various workshops around Ahmedabad and assembles them to create various unique designs for mandirs. These mandirs are usually about three feet high and are used in homes as the puja-ghar.

Rakhi Making Community Of Millatnagar, Ahmadabad

Millatnagar is a colony where migrants from Uttar Pradesh (primarily Gorakhpur, Saharanpur and Sundarnagar) reside. I am studying a ‘Mohalla’ called Dosamkhan Pathan ki chaal. It comprises of 40-50 houses across two lanes facing each other with a walking space of about 2.5 feet. This group of people is essentially a community whose secondary profession is manufacturing rakhis (Context). Following is an analysis of the community based on the given parameters.

--Community by sharing
The residents have migrated (History) from the village called Gorakhpur about 35-40 years ago to work in textile mills. These people having their roots in the agricultural families (Origin) of UP, have shifted to Ahmadabad as this city was able to give them a fixed source of income to sustain their families. The men shifted here in groups of 10-15, looked for factories to work and upon streamlining their life here, called their families to settle (Evolution) here. These people, who are followers of various sects of Islam (Tradition), have evolved in Millatnagar and have constructed their own houses equipped with basic amenities. Three generations are residing in a joint family system where all the members try to contribute in the family’s income by means of their labor.

--Common Income Source
The primary source of income of the families is the factories and textile mills where males of the families work either as operators of various machines. The other trade of the community is workmanship oriented jobs like tailoring, machine embroidery, and blacksmithing etc. (Earning). The women of the family stay at homes and apart from household work, engage themselves in handcrafting RAKHI which is used as pious thread in Hindu culture to mark the love of a brother and his sister. The festival is popularly known as Raksha bandhan and the local manufacturing of all the Rakhis alias rakhdis of Ahmadabad happens in the homes of Millatnagar or some units stationed in Gomtinagar. The women took up this profession, if we can call so, to support their family financially in whatever little way they can. The other reason was that they wanted to make the best use of the available time at their disposal. And due to conservative outlook of their families, they would not be allowed to go out to work. Hence, rakhi making is aptly the secondary source of income.
The females of the family (from young girls to old grandmothers), engage themselves in the art of rakhi making. They handcraft the product by making each piece (Produce) similar to a sample provided to them. They provide ‘assembling’ services (Service) wherein they are paid for the labor (peanuts though) that they put in bring together each strand of a rakhi.
They have taken up this profession as they can perceive backward assembly (techniques involved) of a rakhi sample and then manufacture the same rakhi (Expertise). They do not require any additional training or learning new art for the same. The rakhis are handmade and employ various hand techniques like separation of strands of threads, various types of braiding, beading, tying, knotting, stitching etc. along with a good eye for small details (Techniques).
Also, since the females of the family are being exposed to these techniques from a very young age, the art is inherited and thereafter practiced by them.

--Communication pattern
The trade is practiced by all females comprising of women of a family across all age groups. The families, in fact the mohalla has been known for it’s craftswomen. There are middlemen of the trade called seith who reside in the same lane. This mohalla comprises of 3-4 of them. The seith knows all the families since long time association (Showcasing / Marketing). He is the one who interacts with the manufacturer (wholesaler / investor) and gets the raw material from them for distribution among the labor women, gets the work done and submits the rakhis back to the manufacturer. The distribution of work happens on acquaintance, past experience, delivery commitment (Selling) and best price offered (Attracting) by the family. Hence the seith is the mediator between the manufacturers by designation (i.e. the investors) and actual manufacturers (i.e. the laborers) and it is at his discretion that how much work should be given to whom and at what rate. The women go to his (the seith’s) house to collect raw material (and the assignment) as well as to deliver the produce. There is a credit log maintained by the seith as well as the lady worker(s) and they redeem the cash whenever they require. The seith gives these ladies a small pocket diary and makes an entry of her of the amount of work done by her, every time she goes to give the manufactured rakhis (Credit system).

--Common Resources
Since all the craftswomen interact with the seith only, he is the common market as well as the customer for the rakhis made by them (Market). The mohalla comprises of 3-4 seith as mentioned earlier. They are able to make a gross (144 pcs) rakhis in 1-4 days depending on the design (Produce). Apart from their skill, there are no additional infrastructure requirements besides a place to sit i.e their homes or the stairs of the entrances of their houses (Space), containers to put beads / decorations etc. (often used from their kitchen), and a stool which is used for tying rakhis and braiding them. Tools like needle, thread, and scissors are also used (Infrastructure). The labor is priced anywhere between 3-4 Rs. /gross to 18-22 Rs. /gross in accordance with the time consumed to manufacture one gross and the complexity of design (Pricing). There is no fixed wage rate and no harmony among the women as far as their quotation for remuneration is concerned. They tend to bid a low price to grab more and more work which they actually get as the middlemen also make the most profit out of such deals. The ladies end up earning approximately 22 – 30 Rs. in 2-4 days. The end customers for the rakhis manufactured by them are villagers or middle and low income groups of Hindu society (i.e. who celebrate Raksha Bandhan) across Gujarat and neighboring regions (Customers). Since the seith’s house is in the neighborhood, the ladies walk up to him to do a home delivery of the work done and procure more work (Transport / Commuting). The seith uses various means of transportation as state transport system, or a cycle to go the wholesalers placed in Takshaal, Gandhi bridge and Kalupur bridge.

--Common Pattern
The women start working on the rakhi craft after getting free from their daily chores in the morning. It includes cleaning house, cooking food, helping children / husband to get ready for the day’s work /school. The work begins at around 10-11 am and continues till lunch time. Post lunch, some ladies prefer to take a nap and tea before they resume work and continue the same till supper preparation time (Trade timing). The others continue to work till their husbands come back home. They procure or deliver to the seith in mornings and evenings only as during the day the seith goes to the market. Only if they run out of any raw material, they go to the seith during the day and are dealt by the seith’s wife. The other activities of women include getting vegetables and raashan from market (just outside the mohalla).
The rakhi work begins after Diwali (they say after Id-ul-Fitr) and continues till Raksha bandhan (Trade cycle) . Three months are no-rakhi months when they seek other jobs like making accessories for the popular navratra season and garba. Hence, the tertiary occupation of the community is to handcraft various products of beads, ribbons, golden and silver gota for the festive season of Gujarat (Lean season occupation). The same skill set and infrastructure is required to manufacture them as essential for rakhi. Often the same seith gives them this work also.

An overview of their livelihood, education and environment
The families live in their one room + kitchen cum room set alias kholi (approx. 8 x 12 feet in area). This area is occupied by a family of 10-12 (in some cases even more) people on an average. These houses are lined wall to wall, facing each other across two lanes. The primary source of income is generated by the males of the family. The trade of rakhi is just a supporting source. The average income of a household is 5000-8,000 Rs. /month depending on the number of working male members of the family, average salary of an earning male being Rs. 3000 /- to Rs. 4500/- and each family comprising of usually 2 working males. Since this amount is bare minimum to support their families, they have to often take household groceries on credit from the local baniya . Special ceremonies like marriages, birth, death etc. are additional expenses and are usually borne by means of credit / loan from the places of work and relatives. Though there is a system of community wedding in Ahmadabad, conducted by Islam Association of Ahmadabad which facilitates the entire ceremony along with the rituals, dowry and gifts at a meager amount of Rs. 2000/- upon prior registration; these people prefer to have independent marriages even when they are under huge debts already.
Most of the families have a pet goat which is kept for sacrifice on Id. The bigger the size of the goat, higher is the status of the family as the same is distributed in the neighborhood upon offerings made to God.
The working males have a varied education background as they have studied in UP. They are 4th (class) pass till 10th (class) pass. They are educating their children – boys till 10th class and further if possible and girls till 5th -7th class. The daughter’s education may be sacrificed for a son’s education as it is more important for the family. The daughter is prepared for marriage after 6th -7th class and she contributes in household work as well as the trade of rakhi.
Each house is equipped with electricity supply supported by torrent meters. Most of the houses also have television sets with cable connections. They love watching TV serials and ‘Balika vadhu’ , ‘Utaran’ , ‘Hamari devrani’ are among the most popular ones. They often watch serial repetitions during the day time while making rakhis. They can operate TV remotes and have a clear understanding of various scales of measurement like rupees, wage rates, gross, kilograms, centimeters etc. They also have a fair understanding of length measurement (size of band of one rakhi for it to fit on wrist)and quality determination like thread cutting , quality of knots tied etc. and can separate the defective raw material and return it back to seith.

Primary resources and processing (in case of services, the process of service)
Besides the infrastructure, simple domestic tools and inherited skill set already mentioned, there are no other resources used. The process has been in formulated slowly but surely over a period since the profession came into existence. The seith goes to the manufacturer / wholesaler based in old Ahmadabad (i.e. Takshal , Gandhi bridge etc.). The manufacturer gives a measured quantity of raw material for a particular sample and according to the desired quantity to the middleman, which is further distributed to the ladies on the basis of his choice and past experience with the particular family / ladies. The wholesaler fixes a price/gross for the middleman on the basis of design and it depends on the middleman how much can he negotiate with the labor and strike the best deal for himself. There exists competition between families and hence in order to grab more and more work, they quote lesser and lesser pricing and end up under pricing themselves. This has led to a reduction of labor price / gross from an average of 25-30 Rs. / gross t0 12-18 Rs. / gross over a span of last 15-20 years. This is happening because of increase in the number of people and hence the families in the trade. The ladies procure raw material and give the finished rakhis back to the middleman in the morning / evening. The finished rakhis are in turn supplied to the wholesaler the next day. The craftswomen visit the wholesaler every 3-4 days and are able to supply 1-3 gross in each visit. Retailers procure rakhi from wholesalers and sell to the end consumer.

Have spoken to residents and am in the process of understanding the business model of rakhis. The challenge is that festival of Raksha Bandhan is fast approaching and the retail market of rakhis will cease shortly. The opportunity will be in observing what is done immediately after the festival, during the lean period both by the community as well as other stakeholders in the supply chain.

P.S. (Parameters) for community