Things We Do , Things We Make , VideoZone • 25 নভেম্বর, 2016

No longer spinning much yarn

In Kanjikuzhy, Kerala, older coir workers say their lives are literally entangled in the fibre – they cannot leave this poorly-paid work, not knowing any other, but are likely to be the last generation to keep the industry going

The first coir factory was set up in India in 1859 in Alappuzha, Kerala. It became, and for long remained, the nerve centre of coir industry in the country. But a shortage of raw materials is now impacting the trade. Industry-owners are using jute from West Bengal, and the infrastructure and skilled workers of Kerala, to make jute mats. The workers in Kerala are the last generation that possesses this skill.