When Ravi’s father died, he was just 17. He was a student looking forward to attending college soon. Ravi’s father was the sole breadwinner for the family and Ravi being the eldest son had to leave school and take over his father’s job at the fabrication unit. He became one of the 20 workers employed by the factory.
The Armour Maker
We are entering a humble street of a village in the city of Meerut to meet one of our oldest customer – Intezaar. We are told he manufactures some metal items. It’s a hot humid afternoon and we are not exactly looking forward to entering a workshop with a furnace. But the excitement on Ajay, our loan advisor’s face is stopping us from expressing our misgivings.
Weaver of her own destiny
Varissa Khatoon was living a comfortable life in a district in Meerut managing her house and her two children when life rocked her steady boat and tipped her over. He husband met with an accident leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. The steady source of income from his power loom business stopped and the family’s expenses shot up adding her husband’s medical bills to their monthly outlay. A few months passed and all of the family’s meagre savings were wiped out.
Making the Cut
Gandhi Nagar in Delhi is Asia’s largest textile market. As you enter the crowded streets, you see workers hurrying with colourful rolls of cloth over their shoulders and you get engulfed in the energy and the dynamics of the street. The streets are lined with small shops stacked like Lego blocks selling everything from ornate ladies’ suits to handkerchiefs for men. And walking on these streets gives you an impression of walking on a travellator, powered not by electricity but by the force of the crowd in the street pushing you.
