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Case
History:
Radha
Subba
Ms. Radha Subba
, age 27 yrs old, learned Dhaka Weaving at the age of 7/8 years from her mother.
Born in a mountain district Tehrathum of Eastern Nepal. she used to weave
Traditional Dhaka Topi (cap) from the age of 12/13 which her mother used to sell
at local Hat Bazar ( open market held every week where different products
including food items are brought and sold).Other source of family income is
agriculture, which gives one crop in a year, because of the terrace nature of
mountain field. Radha used to live
with her mother and brother, since her father married another women and lived
separately. Radha's mother died when she was 18 years old. She has sisters all married. Three are
elder and one younger. Two years after the death of her mother, her brother
asked her also to get married. At that time , dhaka weaving was gaining
popularity with the introduction of new product lines and new type of threads.
She decided not to get married and wanted to start dhaka weaving. She had with
her gold ornament given by her parents worth Rs. 12/13 thousand.( 200
U.S.$). With that ornament she came
to Kathmandu with a friend rented a room and started weaving dhaka . She sold
all her ornaments for Rs12000. and bought a loom. She came to Sana Hastakala for
market. But shortly her friend also got married and left her. Then she struggled
alone, brought some more weavers from Tehrathum and after one year she sifted to
another house in 1992. At that time she already had three looms with her. In
between, one of her sister who has been married with a army man working in
Brunai, build a house in Kathmandu. And Radha Subba shifted to this house in
1995. At present she has 15 looms and about 15 women most of them are unmarried
and few married working with her. She brings girls from Tehrathum, teach them
the technique of weaving and give employment. They all live like a family, live
together. They do not have to pay rent for the rooms used by them. Radha pays
herself the rent. Then weavers are paid on piece basis. One piece of dhaka
Shawls takes from 2 to 5 days depending upon the pattern. And they are paid from
Rs. 140 to Rs. 350. for one piece of dhaka shawl. Hence the new weavers earn
about Rs.1500 to 2000 in a month
where as experienced and skilled hand weavers earn about Rs. 4000 per
month.
In eight years of her carrier, she has been able
to accumulate property worth Rs. 250,000. They are not in cash, but in the form
of equipments like looms, raw material like thread and finished products like
dhaka shawls, developed many designs (patterns) of dhaka weaving ,bought some shares in one of
the women cooperatives. She tells
that she did a right decision to start dhaka weaving without getting married and
engaging in family activities. She seemed very proud that she never asked any
support from her family and could stand with her own effort. When asked about,
what she thinks about getting married now, her answer is mixed. She said if she
find a suitable boy who could help her in strengthening her business, she may
marry. But she is not in hurry, her main concern is her business. Recently, Sana
Hastakala provided her free of cost
2 meter width loom, where she can start weaving large width dhaka which
can be used in making bed sheets and Table cloths.
Costing of Dhaka
Shawl
Thread for
warp
Rs. 90.
Thread for
weft
Rs. 56.
Thread for
patterns
Rs.240.
Wage
Rs.300.
Total(wage&
material) cost
Rs.686.
Over head cost
and profit
Rs.136.
The price of the
shawls
Rs.822.
Price of Sana
Hastakala Rs.
926.
* 1 US $ = Rs.
74.00 | 
