Hi Barua, That was a very interesting analyses. I must also say that you are a brave man. Will await for the next series about the Tilika Goru'.
You are right about Taget/Pier1 Imports. They have a lot of handicrafts and infact a lot from India, but I have never seen any from Assam or the NE for that matter. Last year I got a Naga shawl for one of my colleagues at work. He was so impressed with the handicraft and the colors, he asked me why I did not think of importing them to the US. --Ram On 5/31/05, Rajen Barua <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Earlier I stated that majority Assamese are Followers (Litikai), Coward and > Lazy (Dhwd). Alpana did not agree with my 'coward' part. Dilip agreed to > agree if I use the word 'majority' which I am doing now as that is what I > mean. Much to the annoyance of some netters, I also want to add the > following two or three qualifications to the Assamese. These are that > majority Assamese are also 'Naive' , ' Narrow minded' and 'Self centered'. > Frankly speaking, as a group the whole Assamese nation may be said to be > 'stupid' and without any national 'unity'. I also say that Assamese may be > said to be more 'corrupt' than the rest of the Indians. This however I > leave it to netters general judgment. > > While we all know that Indian 'democracy' has its own problems and the GOI > has problems in implementing its share of responsibilities, we cannot deny > the fact that Assam's problems are aggravated by the Assamese themselves > because of their above draw backs. Normally no one would like to highlight > these drawbacks of the Assamese and would rather like to focus on the > shortcomings of GOI. That would have been fine to a limit. However when we > try to take the opposite position that there is nothing wrong with the > Assamese people and that all the problems are there because of inefficient > Indian democracy, corrupt and dysfunctional GOI etc, then however we need to > stand up and say what is the reality. This is important because otherwise > we will fail to do any welfare to Assam if that is our goal. I feel very > strongly that Assamese are not doing anything to help the pathetic situation > of Assam other than blaming everybody else, that most of Assam's problems > would not be solved even if we improve the efficiency of GOI and Indian > democracy. For Assam to improve and develop, Assamese must to improve and > develop. > > With that is mind I would like to refute some of the defenses being put > forward in the net against these drawbacks of the Assamese. First let me > take the case of Assamese laziness. Basically Assamese are lazy people. It > is a known fact. Ask 10 Assamese. They would vouce for this. In this I would > agree with Mridul Bhuyan's examples of the situation Assam and want to take > his question as responded by Chandan as an example: > > Mridul - How many people in the village now can make 'khorahi', 'Passi', > 'Bisoni'? Is 'burha tamul' is available in the villages ? > Chandan *** Guess how much time it takes to make a basket, and how much as a > buyer you would be paying to the rural basket maker ( not to the Delhi > shop--they would make out like bandits) for one? Have you ever made a basket > Mridul? Have you seen one being made? If you want to know more about it, let > me know, I will be pleased to spend an hour to educate you. I know all about > it, because I have done it. It is all about time spent and reimbursements > received for it. Still rural folks would make it for their own use, or when > there is not much to do, will make a few to take it to the 'haat', to sell > for at most, five to six rupees a piece, even in today's environment. > > This brings us to the issue of > > Economy of Assamese Pasi-Khorahi > > Chandan is trying to tell that the reason why the Assamese villagers do not > make pasi-khorahi-saloni any more is because it takes time and basically it > is not economical and that there is no market for it. Let us take the case > very seriously and try to see what exactly is happening here. > > Chandan says that an Assamese villager would make a pasi (bamboo basket) for > Rs 5 or 6 and sell it in hat (weekly community market) . First this shows > how out of reality Chandan is. So first I would like to give Chandan a > raise. Let us give the villager not 5 or 6 but 50 rupees for a good quality > bamboo basket because that is what the present market is. Assamese > household in Assam will pay Rs 50 without any problem for a good quality > pasi khorahi. In place like Guwahati a good quality bamboo basket will > probably sell for Rs 75/100. In place like Delhi (Dilli Hut) these will sell > foe Rs 100/150. > > Now while this market is there one will not find in the village hat or in > any govt emporium any good quality Assamese pasi-khorahi-saloni. If one > goes to place like Delhi, one will not find any Assamese pasi khorahi > saloni. I did not find it in Dilli Hut which was full of handy crafts from > all other states. > > Now let us pause and reflect what is happening here. > > First Assamese are very fortunate that they have inherited the Bamboo > culture which is found mainly in South East Asia and China. There are not > too many places in the world where bamboo grows. Assam is one. Assamese > have inherited the special skills of making these handicraft. They have > this knowledge which a Bihari or a Rajasthani does not. There is also a > market for such products more than the 'naive' Assamese would like to think. > Then the question is why the Assamese cannot sell it. > > The answer is Assamese are lazy to try to improve their lot. > > What is lacking from the above equation is the Assamese entrepreneurship of > some ambitious unemployed energetic youth who would give contracts to the > ignorant Assamese villagers to supply good quality pasi khorahi at > competitive rates (of Rs 50 each) and who would in combination with others > in towns like Guwahati, Jorhat would sell these in shops and open market (Rs > 75 each) and eventually would sell these in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata etc (Rs > 100/150 each). > > That there is a world market for good quality Assamese pasi khorahi is > evident if one would simply visit say a Import store in USA like PIER 1 > Imports or Target etc. I checked and am very pleased to find that such > Assamese pasi khorahi saloni would sell for $8/10. (Rs 400/500). This means > that in collaboration with partners in USA, Assamese can sell these to PIER > 1 or Target at least at half that price which is say $5.00 = Rs 250. If some > Assamese youth can supply say 1000 such bamboo baskets to PIER 1 in USA > through a middleman, he can sell the lot for Rs 10/15,000 at least. I have > just shown some numbers for case of analysis. The fact remains that this > market is there and all the existing bamboo baskets or other bamboo products > in PIER 1 and other shops are being imported from Philippines or China or > Thailand. It is a question of Assamese learning the tricks of the trade, > learning quality control, learning how to do export market in bulk quantity > and do it. BTW, one may visit the following web sites of PIER 1 and TARGET > and see the actual prices of bamboo products. (www.pier1.com; > www.target.com etc) > > At present Assamese are not doing it because Assamese are not hard working, > smart and are willing to improve their lot like the Chinese, Phillipines > and Thai people. So let us understand the reality and let us not come up > with some false defenses why the Assamese do not make pasi khorahi. > > I fear that this Assamese laziness is going to cost the Assamese people very > dearky. They are going to loose these skills entirely. > > In the next message later, I will follow it up with the case of 'Assamese > Tilika Goru', the Wretched Assamese Cow-Why and How. > > Rajen Barua > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Assam mailing list > [email protected] > http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/listinfo/assam > > Mailing list FAQ: > http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/assam/assam-faq.html > To unsubscribe or change options: > http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/options/assam > > > _______________________________________________ Assam mailing list [email protected] http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/listinfo/assam Mailing list FAQ: http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/assam/assam-faq.html To unsubscribe or change options: http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/options/assam
