ForweaversofVaranasi,thereissorrowi nwarpandweft
While the rest of Varanasi preparing to re-elect Prime Minister Narendra Modi later this week, the weavers in the city are worried about power problems which has led to their dwindling business and livelihood problems.
Majority of these weavers belong to the Muslim community who are even wary of talking about their problems.
"First demonetisation killed us, then came GST and now power (electricity) has spelt doom for the business. Hamari zindagi ka tanabana he bigad gaya hai (The warp and weft of our lives has gone awry)," said Rafiq Ansari, a weaver who is planning to shut his shop in Lanka area.
Rafiq said the weavers here are not even ready to talk about their problems as the atmosphere is surcharged with political talks.
"If we say a word, we will be labelled as 'anti-national'. We have decided to keep quiet. Power cuts in Varanasi are more of a rule than an exception. Since the Muslim localities suffer more power cuts than those with mixed population, we can read the writing on the wall," he explains.
Rafiq said online business have also suffered a jolt due to the erratic internet services in the area.
"'Before notebandi', business was good for all-buyers and sellers. The buyers stopped coming in after notebandi and then GST made sure that export of Banarasi saris and material took the hit," he said.
Since most of the weavers are illiterate and not computer savvy, there are additional costs of charted accountants who help them fill up the GST returns.
His younger brother Shadab Ansari said that the weavers' community had obtained the Geographical Index (GI) in 2009 for Banarasi saris and material.
"We had designers like Sabyasachi and Tarun Tahliani coming to Varanasi and buying our saris and material. The business was booming and we were also getting the credit where it was due. But now business has plunged to an all-time low. No one is talking about power cuts because everyone wants to believe that the PM's constituency is the best in the world," said Shadab.