Republic of India Livelihoods in intermediate towns

2.3: New activities in the NFE

2.3.1: Garment Retail Shops: All across the country, the competitive pricing of readymade garments has created a culture of buying and using stitched garments like never before. Bhagwatipur and Satghara are no exceptions. One of the highest in number, garment retail shops come in many sizes. Ranging from owner as worker to the ones employing between one to three workers, majority of these shops are owned by the Suri sub caste among the Baniyas.

2.3.2: Construction Material and Hardware: Apart from the traditionally built mud and thatch roof houses, one can notice a few contemporarily constructed structures in both the settlements, Bhagwatipur and Satghara. These are mostly in the shape of commercial shops within the market place and a few government purpose buildings. Even though residential properties continue to be old and one cannot notice speedy reconstruction or rebuilding, one can certainly notice that some of them have been renovated. In the case of the Indira Awaas Yojana, under which the claimant is entitled to a subsidy of 50,000 rupees and more towards the cost of building, people complained of the corrupt practices as a result of which they would not receive the full share. Some of them have undertaken loans to collate towards the amount they receive so that they can manage to build a decent dwelling for their purpose.

All of the shops selling construction material and related hardware belong to the Suri and Teli sub caste among the Baniyas. Such shops require investments, the liquidity for which is usually available among the trading castes. Even though the pace of construction and related activities is not very speedy, it has certainly picked up in the last decade. According to Sunil, a young man who manages one such shop in Bhagwatipur:

The business for sand and gravel shall continue to do well, the demand for it is only increasing.
Though some of these shops are new generation ventures, a significant number of them are also the kind that sons have acquired from their fathers and have now extended or expanded upon.


Case Study: In transition - the story of handlooms

Ahmed Ansari is a 62 year-old resident of Satghara, and a member of the Ansari group, a backward caste among the Muslims of the region. He currently manages a cloth retail shop in the Satghara market along with his son, which he set up in 2004. According to Ahmed Ansari, he had 50 handlooms in Satghara prior to setting up shop in the market, all of which have now shut down. He undertook a bank loan to set up shop, which he has now been able to pay back. Mr. Ansari belongs to a family of weavers and learnt the trade from his father. However, Mr. Ansari informed us with regret, ‘There is no demand for handloom cloth anymore. The growing availability of power loom cloth from Bombay and other places has displaced khadi from the market’. Mr. Ansari was formerly an agent for twenty khaadi bhandars in the Madhubani district but has now chosen to run his own cloth retail shop in the market.

2.3.3: Items for storage: One of the items on sale along the road in the markets of both Bhagwatipur and Satghara is an aluminium box designed for storage of grains and other household items. Lined along the road, sometimes sheltered by the roof of the shop and sometimes outside it, these boxes shine in the daylight. Most shops sell them along with other items. One can often find these aluminium boxes displayed alongside items of grocery or even of a cell phone sale and repair shop, like in Bhagwatipur. Most often used as items of dowry gifts during weddings, the market for them has grown consistently as the idea of storage in non-earthen ware is a fairly recent one. Light to lift and carry, they have become the popular choice among the settlement population. One of the shopkeepers in Bhagwatipur told us

During the time of the zamindars, people would mostly and only get a fistful of grain, one had to go to their homes to ask for it. Now everyone goes to a PDS shop to buy rice and grain, in kilos, one also needs storage space for that. That is when these come to use

Most of the shop owners selling these items are from the Suri/Teli sub caste for Baniya.
2.3.4. Cell Phone Sale and Repair Shops: One of the most speedily emerging enterprises in Satghara and in Bhagwatipur is that of a cell phone sale and repair shop. The expansion of the IT market in India also includes small towns, settlements and villages where cell phones have become an item of common ownership. For example, in both these settlements, cell phones are the significant link between the migrant and the family that stays behind. In a region, where outmigration is very high, cell phones hence occupy a unique position of providing connectivity between people and places. It is also interesting to note what affects it has had on mobilizing migrants for seasonal agricultural labour for Punjab. According to many of the respondents, initially a contractor held control over managing the demands of the farmer from Punjab; he organized groups from the villages and settlement to travel to Punjab and also took a share of their earnings as commission. However with the widespread use of cell phones, individuals who are willing to go to Punjab can connect directly with the farmer and avoid the middlemen. To that effect, they retain the share of their earnings they would otherwise have to give away as commission and can organize locally, to better effect.
The use of cell phones, especially among migrant families, is gendered. Wives of migrant men in the Muslim Fakir Tola said:
It is when my husband calls me that I am able to speak with him. How will I call him myself? Whenever I feel like talking to him, I dial a missed call.
Women rarely go to the shops to get their phone recharged with money; one of the male members of the family does so for them. A cell phone shop owner we spoke to told us that even though a lot of people who use cell phones may be formally illiterate, they can use the interface with great ease. Young men also use the cell as a device to access the internet, mostly to download songs and videos. One young male shop owner told one of the young male researchers:
The young boys ask for songs and videos to be downloaded on their phones, sometimes they also want ‘non-veg’ videos. If I have it, I do it for ten rupees.
The use of the cell phone, as a communication device, has therefore found a widespread base – migrant men, young men and to an extent, wives of migrant men. Consequently, services related to mobile phones –repair, recharge, upgrading, accessories – also constitute a ready market for commercial activity. Kundan, twenty year old owner of a mobile repair shop described how he was unemployed for long time despite having studied for a B.A. degree from Madhubani. ‘It was frustrating and there was no hope of finding one, so I decided to train in repairing cell phones in Madhubani town and I did so for a year’. Kundan believes he made a wise decision, now that he has opened up a shop and is hopeful that it will do good business –
The mobile is like a disease; it is difficult to live without it. As long as there are mobiles, there will be shops handling them.
Most of the owners of mobile repair shops are young men, for it is a skill that their generation has acquired in the last few years, previous to which it wasn’t around. Whether it is in the town center of Madhubani or in places like Delhi and Gurgaon, training in cell phone repair is viewed by them as something that they can practice commercially and viably in their own village as they realize that there is a growing need for such services. However they are also acutely aware of the competition they face.
The lack of capital for expansion or investment also bothers them, they realize that they can’t be commercially viable or successful if they concentrated on one activity only and would like to either expand or add more to their establishment, the lack of ‘poonji’ however is bothersome. Also, some of them reported that it was difficult to find all the required spare parts required for repair within the village or within Madhubani and that also undermined their repair business.

2.3.5: Medicine Store: Given the paucity of quality health related services in rural India, health related services are at a premium. Between Satghara and Bhagwatipur, the larger settlement of Satghara had more than 80 medicine shops compared to around 10 in Bhagwatipur. Interestingly, more than half of these are owned by the Suri sub-caste among the Baniyas in Satghara. Many of them did not seem to have the required licenses for such shops.

One of the few medicine stores owned by a man from the Halwai caste group, explained to us why he had thought of starting one. Shiv Kumar Shah, forty-one years old had the experience of working as a compounder in a private clinic in Delhi. Upon his return to Bhagwatipur, dealing in medicines seemed like an occupational choice that he could undertake. He sold away some land to begin this business, and now feels that business can be very competitive -

Almost everyone in the village now runs a shop in the market.
Medicine store owners spoke of other kinds of challenges, mostly those related to sale and regulation. Amar Kumar, who owns and manages a medical store in the Satghara market said –
Doctors don’t want to buy a differently named medicine even if it is the same composition. There aren’t very many doctors in town and those who are, prescribe medicine based upon the promise of commissions from the agents of pharmaceutical companies and exploit the patients. Those who are running medicine stores by themselves face a big challenge as the doctors make sure to write a differently named medicine so that the patients buy it from the shop, where the doctor’s commission is assured. Some of the doctors have their own medicine shops as well.

2.3.6: Digital photography studios: Brightly coloured posters and advertisements, which stand out from among the other hoardings in the market in Satghara are usually the ones inscribed with the name of a photo and video studio. Adorned with images of Bollywood actors and actresses, and mostly, newly constructed, they are manned by young men who sit in front of a display of images, mostly from weddings. It is equally interesting to note the large number of photographs of young women, attractively dressed and posing for the camera to get what is popularly known as shaadi ke liye photo (matrimonial photograph). The demand for these services is also built around weddings and related photographs. According to Vikas Kumar, owner of one such shop in Satghara, his average income increases during the wedding season in Satghara and nearby areas. He is twenty-three years old and has been running the shop for nearly six years. He partners with a friend for this business, and his father runs a restaurant in the market.

I went to Punjab as a young boy to work as a painter and worked there at Rs 60 per day. There, I came across a couple of men operate a video camera. I learnt how to use it, from them, in Punjab. Upon my return to Satghara, I bought a camera worth Rs. 40,000 with financial help from my father and opened this shop in a partnership with one of my friends. However, I now want to increase the scale of my business and invest more in my business – give up the partnership and do it alone.

2.3.7: Cyber cafes and Photostat: Like tuition and coaching centers, cyber cafes are also establishments manned by educated and unemployed men. Raja Kumar is twenty-six years old, holds a M.A. degree and has been running a photostat cum cyber café for two years in Satghara. A member of the Halwai caste, he is despondent about his business and about its prospects. He continues to prepare for and write competitive examinations for government jobs as he does not see a future for his business and is unwilling to carry on doing so. He established this business partly by earning from private tuitions in the settlement –

I collected money by teaching kids at home. I had to do so because I had no other source of employment. I didn’t have the money to study further. Even now, I don’t want to continue doing this, doing it because I have no other choice. There is no future for this business, if I get anything else, I’ll stop doing this.

2.3.8. Computer Service Centre: The usage of computers for either personal or commercial purposes is limited in both Bhagwatipur and Satghara. Arrangements like cyber cafes and rail ticketing providers are the kinds, which make use of computers in the market, visibly so. Pappu Kumar Singh, a young man of twenty years set up a shop providing computer maintenance related services three years ago, in 2011. One of the higher ends of investment requirement – Rs. 250,000, he reportedly arranged it through a combination of borrowings from local moneylenders and family members. Amongst the two other brothers he has, one of them lives and works in Delhi, arranging medical supplies for medical store retailers. ‘My brother advised me to start this business’, he informed us. All of his other family members are engaged in agriculture – they own between 5 to 6 acres of land. Member of the Koeri sub-caste, he feels that business is better than agriculture.

2.3.9: Tent house: Given the rise in conspicuous consumption and expenditure in weddings, there has been a concomitant rise in wedding related services, which includes renting tent house services (canopy, utensils, decoration, light etc.), which often double up as DJ services too. These establishments also hire labour on a daily wage basis.

2.3.10: Beauty Parlour, Bhagwatipur: In the comparatively smaller market area of Bhagwatipur (when compared to Satghara), Apsara Beauty Parlour cannot be missed, especially as its red signboard stands out among the scattered shops for eateries and groceries. Part of a house, with a grocery shop for its neighbour, run by the same person as the beauty parlour, Apsara beauty parlour is one of the only women owned and run enterprises in Bhagwatipur.

Savita is a twenty four year old woman of the Halwai sub caste. She has four sisters, two of whom are married and two of whom are studying in school and in college respectively. She herself got married less than a year ago. According to Savita, her parents died very early and it was her elder sister who took on the responsibility of raising the rest of the sisters. They have a very small amount of land (how much?), which they have given under sharecropping. Most of the families earning comes from the grocery shop that is next to the beauty parlour.

Savita opened the beauty parlour only six months before. It is a makeshift arrangement in one of the open areas within the house, with minimum and basic utilities and equipment. ‘I always wanted to be a beautician’, she said, ‘I always had a penchant for make up and for dressing upon and wondered how I could turn it into a living’. She learnt the skills from a beauty parlour in Madhubani town, and then opened one in Bhagwatipur
This job is one of honour. The best part is that I can operate a business from within my home and I only have to interact with women, nobody can ever raise a question about my dignity.
Savita is very hopeful about the prospects of her business. ‘Bhagwatipur is a small settlement but there is a growing acceptance among women to turn out well, especially on occasions of weddings and festivals. This will only grow further’, she said. The other two younger sisters, want to study further and one of them wants to become a doctor. The eldest sister said, ‘we will support her in whatever she wants to do. It is only good if she can study further and make a decent life for herself’.
Radha Devi of Satghara, a member of the Sisodia-Rajput caste group, is a twenty five year old married woman who also runs a beauty parlour. She lived in Nepal before her marriage and trained as a beautician there before moving to Satghara to live with her husband. She also aims to be able to expand her business, but is afraid that there are no regular customers for such services as of now.
Neetu Devi, of the Suri sub caste among Baniyas also runs a beauty parlour in Satghara. She had the chance to train in Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh and once she had, it occurred to her that she could use this in her own area as well. Like the woman owner of the beauty parlour in Bhagwatipur, Neetu Devi is also of the opinion that this is a profession that women can undertake without much opposition as nobody objects to women running beauty parlours.

2.3.11: Small vendors, Bhagwatipur: The market area for Bhagwatipur is limited within a stretch of less than a kilometre. Shops flank the main road on both the sides with ample room in front of the shops for people to congregate, chat and share time over tea. Along the edges of the road and before the entrance of the shops as well as by the street corners, once can see a significant number of women fruit and vegetable sellers. These are either operating on small carts stationed at one place or on the ground with a basket of produce in front of them. Most of these women are from the Mallah community, especially the ones selling water chestnut. In the season that we conducted the fieldwork, water chestnut is a popular item of consumption among the locals and one could spot several women selling them in baskets either along or by the curve of the roads.

In the particular case of water chestnut, the woman selling it informed us that she bought the produce at Rs. 30 per kilo from the cultivator and sold it for Rs 40 per kilo in the market. Her husband renders daily wage labour and it is with their combined earnings that they run their household. Other water chestnut sellers in the market also happened to be women, whose husbands had either migrated or performed daily wage labour to eke a living. This business of selling water chestnuts is also seasonal and during other times, she reported selling some other local fare. Some of these women are also the primary income earners of the family, living in the village, whose husbands are either dead or unable to work due to a physical disability. Among the fruit sellers operating through small carts by the road side, fruit supplies are bought on credit, which is paid off or taken forward depending upon the volume of sales.

On our way around Bhagwatipur, we also saw a Halwai woman, who is currently a Panch of the village, runs a small eatery as well. Outside her partly constructed mud house, she sat with a make shift frying pan and stove, which she used to make pakodas (fritters) and chai (tea). Bechni Devi is nearly fifty years old and the sole income-earning member of her house as her husband has been fighting a long drawn legal dispute over land and does not find the time to work. She and her mother-in-law manage their small business and reported having earned a maximum of Rs. 100 per day.
Shivkali Devi, a forty-year old woman in Bhagwatipur manages a small make-shift arrangement from where she shells packed consumer goods like biscuits, toffees, sachets of shampoo and strips of soap. He husband is a migrant worker in Chandigarh and has been working there for nearly thirty years as a construction labourer. According to Shivkali Devi, whose family is landless, the earnings from her business are very meagre and only go towards some subsistence expenditure in the village, most of which is met by the remittance that her husband provides for.
For a high number of women, such scale of vending goes towards contributing towards the household income, whether in addition to the remittance sent in by a migrant male member or in the absence of one. Reena Devi, who runs a fruit stall in the market area of Satghara however runs her business as the sole income earner of her household. She informed us that she had been selling fruits for the last twenty years, her husband deserted her and she had to assume the responsibility of the primary cash earner for her family, which includes a fourteen year old son who helps her with her business.

2.3.12: Boutique: Even though tailoring and commercial stitching is a male dominated trade, a boutique is distinguishable from a tailoring establishment by its offer for exclusive tailoring of women’s clothes. Satghara has one such boutique, which is owned and operated by Sarita Devi, who is thirty-six years old. She has been running the boutique for the last four years along with two of her daughters. Her husband works in Nepal, as a salesman for utensils. Sarita Devi’s family holds 2 bighas of land, which they have given away in share-cropping.

Sarita Devi acquired skills in tailoring through a training program, twenty years ago. However, now that her children have grown up, according to her, ‘she has found the fursat (time to herself) to do some business’. She wishes to be able to expand it in the future as she doesn’t see a future in agriculture:

It is difficult to practice agriculture alone, the fields can submerged under the flood waters. There is no such fear in one’s own business.