Nayanaben showcasing Bandhani work. As I entered the streets of Wadhwan near Surendernagar, Gujarat, I noticed the coloured water flowing in the water lines across the street. The town is famous for bandhani cloth work and there were stores in almost every house selling bandhani cloth material.

One such wholesale cloth shop is that of Nayanaben. The shop is on the ground floor and they have a house on the first floor. The house has an open area to create styles and mix colors of the white cloth material to give it the bandhani look. People working in the small factory sorts within the house.

These people first tie the white cloth into different patterns to give it a style. Then the cloth is dipped in coloured water – either single color or multiple colors based on the pattern. The cloth is left for 30 minutes to soak the color, after which the pattern is opened and the clothes are hanged to dry out.

This unfinished cloth material is then sold to wholesale dealers who polish the cloth and sell the bandhani work in Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Surat cities. The family makes sarees, suits and dupattas and has been involved in this business since last generation.

She tells that she gets paid Rs. 35 for a saree which is sold in metro cities for Rs. 1,500 – 2,500. Talking about the family, she tells that she has 1 daughter and 2 sons. Daughter is married and the sons help in the bandhani business. Overall after paying the salary for 6 people, they are able to earn approx. Rs. 30,000 per month.

At the end, she thanks everyone who supported her. She tells that only with this loan they are able to buy the cloth material in bulk and make decent profits and also saves some money for future.