BAGALKOT: Apart from impoverishing the weavers, the diminishing scale of the handloom industry is also having a serious social impact.
Parents of girls of marriageable age are reluctant to wed their daughters to weavers or marry them into weaver families.
Markandayya S Chillal (28), a resident of Ilkal town and a weaver since he was 14, is looking for a bride for the past three years.
But every time, he has been rejected on the grounds that he is a weaver. Now, his parents are worried.
“Relatives are not ready to give their daughters to our son ... but they are ready on one condition – if he quits weaving and takes up a different profession. Our son, however, does not have knowledge of any profession other than weaving.”
Markandayya told The New Indian Express, “People are ready to give their daughters to waiters in dhabas and hotels, security guards and fruit vendors, but not to weavers.
"They demand that we change our profession. Now, I’m afraid that I might remain a bachelor forever. We even tried finding a girl in other communities. But they too are hesitant.”
Hanumanthappa K Harti (47), a resident of Guledgud village, presents a worse picture. “Parents of girls
of marriageable age even refuse to give their daughters to families where parents are weavers, but the son is in another profession.
"They fear that in future their daughter might be pushed into weaving. It is a big social problem that is resulting in weavers migrating to different professions.”