“I was born here and learned silk weaving from my father thirty five years ago when I was fifteen. This village is good and I like weaving.  My children have finished their studies.  They do not need to come into this work because they are educated.  I think this work will finish with our generation.  The earnings are too low and it will diminish.”

Natarajan, Weaver

“Iyangar Kulam is a spiritual village.  There is a temple on almost every street. The main deity in this village is Sanjeevaraar.  In 10 months out of 12, we have deity celebrations.  When we start new work, we remember Lord Ganesha and we pray to Sanjeevarayar.”

Venkatesan, Weaver

“I’ve lived here for the past fifteen years.  The village is good.  Expenses are low here and children can be raised in a good environment, free from bad habits.  Our house was dripping with water, so eventually we needed to shift to a better house.  The silk business is good work, but it will not give us sufficient income.  My husband is also doing a catering business along with weaving to sustain our income.”

Vijaylakshmi, Village Resident

“This work of weaving has been passed on to me from my forefathers’ generation as an art.  It is just like being artists.  We worship this work and start doing it just like we do Surya Namaskara in the mornings.” 

Kannan, Weaver

“I’ve been in this village for 20 years. The people here are friendly but our generation doesn’t like village life that much. I hang around with my friends in the evening, look at the internet and browse Flipkart. I also spend time with friends playing cricket. I do not know about weaving.”

Vignesh, Resident

“Earlier, people used to buy a lot of silk sarees, but it is diminishing now with the advent of apoorva (artificial) silk.  People feel that real silk sarees cost more.  And we get only 75-100 rupees (about $1.50) a day for our labor.”

“I do not want my children to come into this work.  Our children need to see better days, hence we are educating them.”

Venkatesan, Weaver

“Weaving is the lifeline of this town.  If not for weaving, we would not have our livelihoods here.  I am from a weaving family, but earnings are less in the weaving business.  Hence, people are slowly moving toward educating their children.  They are taking up studies and going for work at corporate companies.”

Surender, Logistics Company Employee