The Indian Experiment; 9; In the Mill

The upheavals and miseries of the Industrial Revolution in Europe have been well-documented. It is a whole literature rising from the firmament that industrial life brought to European countries. In India, the process came much later. The nature of Indian society when industry began was very different from that of European countries. The dislocations and the suffering if anything were more acute, but this time of our history has not been very fully reported or researched. From one point of view, India is only today entering fully into her industrial revolution. A deliberate planned programme for the building of industries in every part of the country is now in progress, but some industries were begun in India under British

rule 70, 80, 100 years ago. The first and greatest was the cotton textile industry. Villagers came swarming into Bombay to work in the mills. It is curious to recall that it was the American civil war, the war between the states that cut off American cotton from Europe and gave the impulse to build cotton mills in India. In the 1860s and 70s, Bombay was called Cottonopolis. An endless expansion for cotton textile was foreseen. Here is an outline of that history, the rapid growth of cotton mills manned by villagers who came hopefully to the city. In one man's lifetime, much of the growth and many changes have taken place. Here is the story of such a lifetime. Modern India has great plans for industry, but the biggest of her industries today is

to the oldest cotton textile. Roger Partill has worked in the mill over 45 years. Today, Roger is interrupted at his

work on the folding machine. There's a call for him to come to the manager's office. He feels a bit worried about it. Why do they want him? The mill and the industry have grown up around him during his lifetime. Roger's mind goes back along the corridor of years, back to his first days of work in the city. When he started, electric light had just come into the mills. The usual working day was 16 hours. Labor was scarce nearly 50 years ago. There were plenty of women and children working. A child of nine could work in the mill.

Most of the workers in those days came from villages. They didn't know much about city ways or city wages. Roger didn't much like the city, but still he meant to stay. Wages would get better. He would save and bring his family from the village to Bombay. Roger's village was in Kandish district. One year he went back for his wife and two boys. They gathered their things from his father's house, planning to quit the village together. The youngest boy, Gumputh, loved to watch his grandfather at the hand loom.

But don't do, the older one was eager for the city. It was painful to leave the village and they set off quickly. Gumputh could hardly bear to go. His heart stayed behind him with his grandfather and the wonderful hand loom. But he had to go along all the same. In Bombay, Roger and his family lived in the usual kind of chore with other mill workers.

The boys took to it soon enough. But Sita, his wife, lost some of her old health and spirits. The life was very different after the village. The city was harsh to her. But they were good days for the family was together. Many other families were still divided with the men at the mills and the wives and children far away in their villages. After they were settled, Roger thought he would get a job at the mill for Tondu. Tondu was

very old and healthy and wanted to work. One day after the midday break, Tondu came to the mill to try for a job. Roger called him inside to meet the spinning master, a friendly man. But times were changing. The spinning master was still friendly but young children could no longer work in the mills. Tondu must be 12 years old before he could have a job. Perhaps it was a good thing. Conditions of work were beginning to improve.

But in the city, conditions were not so good. The 1920s were years of the bad epidemics. Many families were hit. Sita had always missed the village she loved so well. The city had worn away her strength. When the epidemic came, she had nothing left to fight with. That was the bad time nearly 30 years ago. Roger Partill, earning a bigger wage, could buy more freely. Somebody at home was always needing something.

Living with his sons and grandchildren, Roger was not altogether lonely. The city was full of troops and the mills busier than ever with wartime orders. In the port, troops would be sailing off to the far eastern front, Burma and Malay. Many mills went on two shifts. Thousands of new men were taken on. But still outside, many more couldn't get in. Roger and Tondu, both at the mill now, had hopes for Gunpat, too. But Gunpat wasn't lucky. He was on bodily and had to take his chances of getting work from day to day.

On days when he was shut out, Gunpat seemed to turn away from everybody. He wasn't like the others. From the time when he was a small boy, he never really liked the city and its waves. Gunpat was late coming home that evening. And when they heard him finally and waited to hear what happened, he had nothing to say. So this was it. Gunpat was leaving. Returning to the village, they all left twenty years before.

I'm going, he said. This is not the life for me. Tondu's wife was shocked. But Roger had little to say. Thousands come from the villages to the city. But always there are some who must go back. I don't talk about this, but it's nice to see a

The street was still the same, he could remember it, all the way back to the house that still belonged to them. For a long time ago, he watched his grandfather work at the wonderful Handloom. Handloom weaving is the greatest of India's village industries. More than ten million people count on it for their livelihood. The fortunes of the village weavers are linked closely

to the mills. Nearly all the yarn used on handlooms comes from mills in the cities. Almost a third of the excise duty from sale of mill cloth goes to help the caddy and handloom industries. In them, mills and handlooms must clothe the growing millions of India. During the Second World War, the mill industry made giant strides. Working night and day, sometimes three shifts, the mills strained to keep up with demand. Tondu's wife Saku came into the mill and Tondu himself was still working in the weaving shed. Three of the family were now at the mill earning good wages. And the mills were becoming better places

to work in. Rajan Tondu, at their canteen, could buy a full meal for five annas. There were benefits too for women workers like Saku who had children to think about. When Saku came off shift, she went straight to the crash in the mill compound where she left her baby every morning. When they were at work, Saku and Tondu didn't have to worry about things at home. Tondu's

oldest boy sometimes got home before the family, but he was old enough to take care of himself. For a mish, the best moment of the day was when the whole family came home from work. Now in the postwar years, three quarters of a million operatives were on the payroll of the mill industry, an eight-hour working day, a 48-hour week, wages for thousands of families, revenue in crores of rupees for the nation. Tondu saved as much as he could.

He planned that his son would have a good schooling, none of his generation ever could. In the past, many mill workers spent all they earned and stayed in debt, but Tondu's family managed somehow to save, and they enjoyed themselves just the same. Young Ramesh took his schooling seriously. Already he had a plan worked out for his own future.

He went from school to the Technical Institute, and there too he worked hard. Young as he was, Ramesh could see that the best jobs and wages were going to the men with training. When he got his certificate, Ramesh in his turn came to the mill to apply for a job. He made a good impression with the labor officer, for he was confident of his training and felt he had something to offer. In a few days they would let him know. And what about Gunpert back in the village? For himself he had made the right choice.

He was glad to hear from the family in Bombay, but he didn't envy them, the city life or even their good wages. For him, the village was better. This morning Ramesh had to get ready early for a second interview at the mill. They were all just a little bit excited and anxious helping him on his way. Ramesh was in plenty of time, but Dondu kept hurrying him along. At last he said goodbye and off they went. Raja hoped he would have good luck. For Raja his grandson was caused for special

pride, first of the new generation born to city life. Deep in his thoughts, Raja pulls himself back into the present. He must hurry along instead of daydreaming at the window. After all, you can't keep the manager waiting forever. Why should the manager want to see him of all the 4,000 workers in the mill? In the office they are talking about the textile industry. Nowadays fully man with Indian

technicians. And in the group, the first thing Raja sees is his grandson. What does it mean? Ramesh with the manager. Raja has hardly seen the manager since he was a spinning master long ago. Yes, their hopes have come true. Ramesh is coming to work at the mill. He is a skilled worker. His earnings will be greater than his grandfather's. Trained men like Ramesh are the kind that industry wants. The older men have seen many changes in one lifetime. For Raja pride and pleasure have mixed up all his memories in a great confusion. Somehow the word has already got to Dondu waiting outside. Ramesh, his son, has made them all proud. So people play their part in the life of the mills. The workers who journeyed

from villages become city people. Their children grow up in the ways of industry. They are part of India in the making, in this new age of industry and machines. One of the main themes in modern life is that of peasant people coming into the cities, looking for work, becoming factory workers, changing their whole way of life. In India and in Italy, in Africa, even in the rural United States, this theme is repeated. India has a great need for factories and industries for many reasons. She needs the things that they produce. She needs the employment that they provide. Converting a very large country like India, 500 millions or so, from a peasant rural base to an industrial base all in a

short few years is a very large order. Rural people have to be educated, have to be trained for work in industry. Yet many of them, when they come into the cities, are not educated or trained and are not suited to industrial work. The nation itself now plans to build a base of heavy industry and power which can then supply a whole range of secondary and consumer industries. The policy is one that seeks balanced growth and maximum employment. Government by necessity operates many of the new giant industries. The private enterprise or the private sector, as we call it, operates thousands of individual businesses and factories. This is a mixed economy that is room for profits, that is need for all kinds of goods, that is need for maximum employment opportunities. Government and private enterprise, Indian and foreign companies all are active on the industrial scene. American, British, German,

Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Czech, Russian and Japanese. The main thing is this. India needs industry. Both for the goods that industry will deliver and the jobs that industry will create. Without industry, the rural present life of India cannot be brought into harmony with the main currents of the modern world. This is NET, National Educational Television.