MYSURU: Hundreds of colourful bamboo hand fans, ladders, bamboo baskets and mats kept on the road side in JP Nagar in Mysuru, look forlorn with no takers. The ongoing countrywide lockdown in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic has severely affected the lives of many bamboo weavers of Mysuru. Rachanna alias Manjunath, a bamboo weaver, who has been in the business for nearly three decades, is not able to sell even a single bamboo hand fan in the last one month. “I had woven more than a hundred bamboo hand fans keeping in mind the summer season.
Generally, there is a huge demand for these fans every year in this season, but with lockdown in place now, I am not able to sell even one fan which is normally sold at Rs 35 to Rs 40,” says Rachanna. Rachanna sits in front of his roadside shop from 10 am to 6 pm weaving bamboo trays or mats, with the hope that people will buy at least one product. With the wedding season in mind, the bamboo weavers have created thousands of ‘Mora’ (a bamboo tray) which is commonly filled with pulses and rice to offer ‘Baagina’ during the wedding. But with most marriages cancelled, their products are gathering dust.
“It has become really hard for us even to buy groceries. Since most of us migrated from Nanjangud to Mysuru to do this business, we don’t have adequate documents or ration cards to avail government benefits. In the first week of lockdown, some people came and handed over food packets to us, but they later forgot us. I have no answer when my wife and two daughters ask if I am able to do any business,” says Rachanna. Siddaraju, another bamboo weaver, says that there are nearly hundred-odd bamboo weavers belonging to the ‘Medar’ community camping in and around the city. “We all are staring at a grim future,” he says.
“I made several ladders in the hope that people would buy them as this season is considered best for construction work. But with no construction activities taking place now, I am not able to sell even a single ladder,” he says. Even though there are no sales, they are not stopping their work. Sitting under the scorching sun, they are seen cutting a whole stem of bamboo stick with a hacksaw and splitting it longitudinally to give it a different form and weave it to make a mat.
“As artisans, we earn our livelihood by selling bamboo products. I am now working on a mat, will weave it until the raw material I have gets over. I am hopeful that the lockdown will end. Once the situation turns normal, I will have to sell all my wares at half price at the bamboo market so that I earn at least something to buy essentials,” he says.