As I have mentioned, I was fortunate to have come across the products that we are now selling through All Things Indian when I met the manager of the factory at a house meeting held in her family home. Unfortunately I was not able to go to the factory on that trip. However, I was privileged to visit with Mandi when we went over to India in February 2007 to decide on our product range.
We walked up the stairs to the first floor of what looked like a run down building. When we reached the top we were pleasantly surprised to find an open room with about a dozen sewing machines with a young man or lady at the controls busily making an assortment of articles.
They all had their heads down and were working hard and quickly on the antiquated machines. They also were very hesitant to acknowledge us as they were from the lower caste of the Indian society and to talk to a white person is taboo for them.
We discovered later that the workers had not been paid for almost two months, yet they continued to come to work in the hope that the company would eventually pay them. On hearing this I felt moved to give them something extra, so I went to the bank and gave each of the 13 workers a bonus that was equivalent to a weeks wages, a small amount by our standards yet substantial for them.
It was also bitterly cold (I know not something you think about India) and the workers were well rugged up as there was no heating, so we also bought them some heaters to ward off the cold.
Needless to say these two gestures broke the ice, whenever we visited again over our stay we were greeted with big smiles and Namastes - a traditional Hindi greeting.
The quality of the goods that these worker provide us with is nothing but outstanding and we are
yet to discover a sub-standard product. They take great pride in their work and all of them are very
happy to have a job. All Things Indian is in it infancy and at this stage our orders are small, but in time they will increase, and it is hoped that we will have to increase the work force so that they can complete our orders in a timely manner.
We would like to eventually purchase the company so we can have more control of the manufacturing process and to speed up the production time. Although this would be a good investment for us, it is not our sole purpose.
We have a dream and that dream is to purchase a four story building and convert the ground floor into a modern manufacturing facility, the remaining three floors we plan to convert into housing that the workers can live in with their families providing them safe, clean, and desirable home environment - something that many of them would never have experienced in their entire lives.
Marty
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