By Nilanjana Bose
IN the heart of Marxist West Bengal, forgotten entrepreneurs are quietly building their own industries. Unrecognised for their unique work: theirs is a story that is rarely told.
Jaduberia: A shuttlecock success story
Pritam Pandit grew up wanting to make music. But life had other plans for him. Two years ago, when his father passed away, the legacy and the business of shuttlecocks was passed on to the 23-year old. And rather reluctantly, he stepped into the shoes of his father and became the owner of Dolphin Empire, a one-room operation in Jaduberia village, 40 kilometres from Kolkata.
"I didn't have much of a choice since after my father, there was no one else to take the business forward. But I am proud of what I am doing now," he says.
In a tiny room, an industry quietly functions as men work in the factoryline production unit. Every one has their task cut out. While Pritam makes grooves in the cork bottoms, some men stick carefully clipped duck feathers into those holes, while others strengthen the shuttlecock with glue and string.
In this village, more than 5,000 craftsmen and women run tiny factories like this, part of a trade more than a century old. Jaduberia is now the largest supplier of shuttlecocks in India. While small units like Pritam's Dolphin working with 10 labourers make approximately 300 shuttlecocks a day, for bigger factories like Basudev Khan's, close to 50 labourers are put on the job.
Once manufactured, these shuttlecocks are sent to different parts of India and the subcontinent through agents. A box of shuttlecocks costs any thing between Rs 100 to Rs 600, depending on the quality of the duck feathers that are imported from Bangladesh or sourced from Murshidabad.
For Khan, it's a business that has taken years to build but now the benefits have made it worth his while. From a tiny one-room operation, he now owns a bigger house and a separate factory.
Though not exactly part of Generation Next, 53-year old Basudev, from a West Bengal village, has the brains of a modern day city entrepreneur. Today, he is focusing on marketing his products beyond India and scoring over competition by slashing rates. As a result, others have had to follow suit, so it's a battle of survival of the cheapest.
"I feel proud of the way I have turned my business, around. I hope my son will follow in my footsteps," he says.
Here, neighbours take care of each other by employing them in their small factory units. Even women are encouraged to learn the trade. Others who are just starting out, are given loans by friends so that a few hundred more shuttlecocks can be sent out from Jaduberia.
It's with immense pride that these workmen -- earning Rs 100 a day -- firmly say that no one needs help from the government here. These villages are not on any economic map. Yet silently, they have spawned industries and boast of hundreds of successful entrepreneurs.
Photograph: Getty Images
In the picture: Daily life in West Bengal
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