The honorific title of ‘Ben’ or ‘elder sister’ given to Hansa is because the entire village regards her as such. She is a widow, and the eldest member of the Tamasha group. Her husband died a couple of years ago, a death that could have been avoided had there been a doctor or a qualified nurse close at hand.

Hansa-ben has four children, three daughters and a son. She had worked as an agricultural laborer in and around the village earning a few Rupees a day for the hard work that she did. There was never any guarantee that she would get work every day. The time between planting and harvesting was always tricky as work for casual laborers was uncertain.

She and her eldest daughter joined the Tamasha group early in 2009. The security of a regular income, less physical exertion, and the major advantage of working from home was her prime motivation for joining us. Hansa-ben hand-washes, and dries the plastic bags. She sorts them by color, and then cuts the plastic bags into thin strips ready for weaving on the poly loom.

Rahiben and Suryaben’s daughter at the loom

Hansa-ben’s daughter has learnt to operate the loom by watching the older women in the village like Surya and Rahi. Her monthly income now comes close to that of the other qualified weavers in the village. Hansa-ben now herself has a good income for the 2 hours a day that she wants to work. Mother and daughter now live a reasonably comfortable live without worry as to where the next meal might come from and secure in the knowledge that they will have excellent medical help if and when they need it.

In addition to covering all their daily living costs, Hansa-ben and her daughter are saving a little money each month for a few things ‘we like to have’ rather than ‘we need in order to live’

Masala Cha was soon over, but we could have continued our conversation on how Tamasha is improving the lives of the entire village.

‘May god bring us the rains on time, and may you continue to get more orders for Tamasha’ is how Hansa-ben concluded our conversation as she started her daily routine.

Vibha lives with her husband and their three sons. Her husband works in a nearby field as an agricultural day laborer. Before joining Tamasha, Vibha and her husband lived a hand-to-mouth existence. They barely had enough money to buy food; their children could not afford the books and supplies needed for school. Vibha worked 7 hours a day away from home. Times were hard when she had to stay home to look after one of her sick children and she had to forgo her day’s wages.

Vibha tells us that Tamasha has changed her life and improved the quality of life for her whole family. Her three children now go to school and are in 1st, 4th, and 7th grades. She earns a steady income every month from Tamasha, making over 4 times what she used to make as a day laborer. Each month She deposits 10% of her income into a savings account, small but growing, providing security for her and her family, especially her children. Vibha no longer has to worry about where the money would come from for medical emergencies.

Vibha says ‘I do not have land or an education; my hands are my only resource. Who would pay when I fall ill?’ She laughs and jokes ‘I have not fallen ill since I started working with tamasha.’

Vibhaben working at the loom

Since the poly loom is in her house, she can manage her household chores and responsibilities, and work with greater flexibility and ease. She can extend or compress her work time depending on her household work and the orders received for Tamasha products. Though Vibha generally does not work beyond 5 or 6 pm, she sometimes works at night when Tamasha receives large orders.

Vibha says that there is less physical exertion in operating the loom. The major effort is in changing the warp threads, about once every two weeks. Apart from that, she says ‘operating the loom is like playing a game.’

Her day starts at 5-6 am. By 10 am she completes her household chores – makes tea, cleans the house, gets water, washes and feeds the buffaloes, washes clothes, cooks food and feeds her husband and children – then she sits at the loom and works until 3 p.m. She takes a short break for tea and sits at the loom again until 5pm. After 5pm, she resumes her household responsibilities – she bathes the children, washes the buffaloes again, cooks food, feeds her husband and children, washes the vessels and sweeps the house. Some time is spent for relaxation, after which she generally goes to bed around 9 or 10 p.m.