Meetings over bags

Rani, "Baagulu baagunaayi annara ? Emi fault unninda ?" (Did they say the bags were good ? Was there any fault ?).

When I assured her that the bags were of good quality according to everyone who saw them, she said, "Anthe kavali. Roopayee thakkuva vasthe parava ledhu. Bags nachthe chaalu" (That is all we want. If the money is less itrs OK, but the bags should satisfy.").

This has been my essential learning of village values.

The four young women have been handling the bag making details and dynamics on their own completely. I was caught up with some family health issues and was away from the village. They had worked out collecting the cloth from Pakala lorry transport, parcelling it back to the customer addresses, maintaining detailed accounts.

They have gone to Chittoor together, checked out the suggested motors, and bought them, and got them fixed on their machines. They use the motors when there is electricity, and otherwise do manual stitching.

We all sat together at home, and I suggested that they take part of the profit, and keep part in a common pool which would serve as a rotating fund for their work, to buy cloth, and also protect them against possible losses and damage in transit. They saw the validity of that, and after some discussions among themselves came with with their suggestions. As reasonable and fair, as I have grown to expect from the village women always.

So now Shyamala, Anita