Every morning around 7 am, the women of Narhet village in Rajasthan’s Alwar district meet at a community centre. It’s also a great opportunity for the little ones to play together as their mothers catch up on the latest happenings in the village, sing and sometimes dance and also earn their livelihood. Four looms dot the community centre and the women, dressed in colourful lehengas and odhnis, settle into place to tie knots faster than the eye can see. It takes two weavers more than two months to make an 8x10 foot carpet, 16-year-old Sita explains, her fingers flying across the warp. She adds that the carpets Narhet’s men and women make are then processed for finishing touches before being sent off to stores in the US and the UK. “I know so much because I go to school,” Sita says as her mother Ramta Devi pats her back proudly. Sita studies in the village school and helps her mother on the loom once she’s free.
Good Businesses 2013
Power of the looms
Jaipur Rugs, India’s largest carpet manufacturer, has improved the lives of 40,000 weavers
Editor's Pick
Most Popular
Summer wine and salad
Kishore Singh - January 19, 2015
A double topping for growth
Meghna Maiti - January 15, 2015
Scriptures for success
Kripa Mahalingam - January 27, 2015
Where's the party tonight?
Aditi Saxena - January 27, 2015
The million-dollar question: Is investing a game of luck or skill?
Shankar Sharma - May 04, 2021