Riaz Ahmed is a master weaver in Jamalhata village in Bihar’s Siwan district. His life revolves around his workshop-cum-home, contained in a shell-like structure of bare brick walls and unpaved floors. He has 11 handlooms with six working on an order from Parivartan, an NGO.
Until a few years ago, weaving had virtually stopped in this village of weavers, part of the industry that produced the well-known Siwan twill chaadar or bedcover. The 150 people who then made a living out of weaving, done on 40 looms, either migrated to work. . .