Kundapur: Migrant blacksmiths from Bhopal rely on hard work, skill
Silvester D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network – Kundapur (SP)
Kundapur, Apr 14: A few families from Bhopal, which eke out a living by working hard, have been camping in the roadside near the town at present. The families, members of which are blacksmiths traditionally, have made it a practice to migrate to Karnataka annually for earning a living.
While about 40 persons from these families are working here now, it is learnt that over 2,000 migrant blacksmiths from Bhopal are engaged in similar work at different parts of the state at present.
What they manufacture
Their routine is making implements like axes, pickaxes, chisels, hammers, hatchets, and iron equipments used in bullock carts. They set up their tents by the roadsides, and work hard from dawn to dusk for making these things. Normally women are involved with keeping the ash furnace alive and heating iron pieces in them. Two or three family members then take hammers in their hands and hit the red hot iron pieces hard alternatively, till the pieces get the shape, size, and sharpness they need.
When the men are busy otherwise, even women and small children attend to this hard work, taking the onlookers by surprise, and giving rise in them a sense of respect for their hard work. Many people visit the tents just to see the method of their working and their skill at manufacturing the implements. These families are adept at making things needed by farmers, and are capable of making things one requires within minutes.
Low income
The families buy old iron pieces by paying Rs 50 per kilogram from Shimoga and Mangalore. They buy charcoal from local dealers. The final product is sold at Rs 150 per kg. Out of this, if we deduct cost of iron (Rs 50), charcoal (Rs 50), and labour (Rs 30), they earn a net profit of only Rs 20 per kg. Kamal, one of the blacksmiths, says they sell 10 to 12 kg of products every day, and buy food and clothes out of the small margin of profit they earn every day.
Roadside life
These families have made it a practice to pitch their tents by the roadsides so that there is no need to pay rent, although they have to brave lot of heat and dust. Depending on local demand and day-to-day business, they stay at a place for a few days, before moving on to another place. The families say that after spending six months touring other places, they return to their hometown for two months. As such, they spend about eight months out of every year in other states.
Children’s education
These families, which are fully dependent on blacksmithy, deprive their children of any education, as they move on from place to place every few days. The young children observe what the elders in the family do, and follow in their footsteps. A woman in one of these families said that they do not get any educational facility from the government. “The children who work will support the income of the family,” she feels.
At a time when machines are employed for faster and precision work including manufacturing equipments and implements, these families have, in the face of stiff competition, continued to adopt manufacture of iron implements through traditional methods as a home industry since the times of their forefathers. They deserve a pat on the back for their hard work, selling o the products at low cost, skill, and professional behavior.