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Bihari colony buzzes with Eid activities→ Business Desk  During a visit to the Bihari colony located at Jhautala under Khulshi police station in Chittagong on Tuesday, the community members were seen busy putting the finishing touches to their crafts, a traditional occupation nurtured for long. Their Eid collection includes three-pieces, sarees, fatuas, panjabis and what not. The stunning designs, decorated by the Biharis on the clothes with the skillful use of needle, thread, stone, chumki, spring, and karchupi, have been the symbol of aristocracy for many. Interestingly, the whole community rises en masse with the needle work ahead of Eid. Banglanews24 correspondent found the children of the colony also took part in the activities of the elders. Md Emon, a student of class II of UNICEF school nearby, was found concentrating deeply hard designing on a piece of black clothe. “I am at the learning stage, therefore I get Tk 80 weekly,” added Emon whose mother works in a garments factory and father is an auto-rickshaw driver. Owner of the very factory, where Emon works, said, “The children of Emon’s age are still learning.” “But I do not discourage them to go to school,” the owner said, adding that they got leave during school hours. Meanwhile, the dresses produced in the colony enrich the collections of posh shopping centres in the city. Mohammad Pappu of Paharika Residential Area of South Khulsi and owner of Pappu Fashion and Boutique said he was doing spring and karchupi design business for the last eight to ten years. He also has a small factory with 10-12 workers. When asked, he said, “At present, I am designing an order of burqas on black background,” adding, “each piece of burqa costs Tk 1,000.” In response to a question about the raw materials used in the process, he said, “I use colour thread, metal design dice, multi-dimensional motive, stone, plastic puti etc.” Each adult worker gets Tk 1,000 to Tk 1500 per week whereas child labourers get Tk 70 to Tk 500 each. Khalid Zafar, another factory owner who has been in this business for the last 17 years, said, “The wages, however, depend on design, starting from Tk 500 to Tk 5,000.” He said that they are having a tough time ever as ready made sarees from India, which are designed by computers, are almost flooding the market, sidelining the homegrown ones. Moreover, the prices of raw materials are also rising, leaving the age-old profession at stake, he ventilated his frustration. “Once sarees and salwar-kameezes were designed in every home of Bihary colony which have come down to 15 to 20 factories only,” Khalid Zafar said. Alfaz, a veteran of the colony, however, thinks otherwise. He said, “The profession will survive as the new generation is learning the trade from the elders and thus holding the legacy.” |
