The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Price factor makes for popularity

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Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Price factor makes for popularity

S. Harpal Singh

Uttar Pradesh ‘gaddiwala’ mattresses find number of takers

Cosy and comfortable: A worker hems in the final stitch at the open workshop near Mavala village in Adilabad district.

ADILABAD: For those who spend sleepless nights due to inflation, Bhaiyyalal ‘gaddiwala’ of Uttar Pradesh has soft and cheap mattresses to offer. This being the marriage season, his mattresses are a hit with the lower income group of rural areas in particular.

The three tailors and four hawkers in the gaddiwala’s team make mattresses out of wasted cotton and sell it at bargain prices. Against a minimum price of Rs. 3,000 for a synthetic mattress and Rs.1,000 for a 5 ft X 6ft double bed mattress, this type of bedding component costs only about Rs. 300.

“We can afford to sell at such a low price only because we get the cotton at cheaper rates. We also buy off thrown away cotton mattresses, pillows and other items. Such cotton is recycled. Our mattresses can last for about five years depending on the usage”, explained Bhaiyyalal.

Mesram Bhagwan of Karanji village in Tamsi mandal who works as a private employee in Adilabad town purchased a couple of these mattresses from the hawkers of Uttar Pradesh. “The rates were so attractive that I purchased them straight away. . Getting readymade mattresses at your doorstep is unimaginable these days”, he observed.

Ancestral vocation

Making cotton mattresses and pillows had provided livelihood to hundreds of ‘Doodekula’ families once upon a time, according to B. Muralidhar, Agriculture Extension Officer at Adilabad. “Very few families of this caste have stuck to their avocation. Those who are still in business make use of machines that recycle cotton faster”, he pointed out.

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