Hosa Arambha really is about these weavers. 

 

Devaraju

Devaraju is a 3rd generation handloom weaver from Kodiyala who has been weaving for 35 years. He learnt the skill from his parents. Over time due to changes in production organisation in Kodiyala he had to sell his handlooms 7 years ago and move to power-loom as it was more viable. He set up 2 power-loom in his house and weaves with his wife. His passion always lied in handloom weaving and hopes that through Hosa Arambha he can continue to fulfil this and inspire his sons to carry forward the tradition.

 

Govindaraju

Govindaraju is a handloom weaver originally from Kodiyala who was taught weaving by his father and grandfather. He moved to Bangalore for better economic prospects and was working in a government Handloom Society as a part time weaver with a construction job on the side. His aspiration was to move to handloom full time, and with the financial gains from the Hosa Arambha project he hopes to fulfill his long time goals of owning his own looms in his house to pass on the skills to his children. His wife is currently training to become a handloom weaver.

 

Sridhar

Sridhar is a second generation handloom weaver who learnt weaving from his parents. 15 years ago he owned about 12 hand looms in Kodiyala weaving silk sarees for the urban market. Due to harsh economic changes in the silk market 15 years ago he had to sell his looms, his courtyard home in Kodiyala where he housed the looms and his assets in Bangalore. He lived with his mother in a small home in Kodiyala and his wife (also a handloom weaver) and children moved to Bangalore. This forced him to become a wage worker in a powerloom factory to support his family. His aspiration is for his family to move back to Kodiyala permanently and restart their looms weaving both cotton and silk. 

 

Kumaresan

Kumaresan is a second generation weaver who learnt weaving from his father. His family is from a cotton weaving community from Tamil Nadu who moved to Bangalore several years ago in search of handloom employment. Since then they have been weaving silk. But Kumaresan recently found it hard to cope as a silk wage worker due to the unprofitable markets and has moved to Kodiyala to restart his family's tradition of weaving cotton. His aspiration is to start his own looms after he makes a profitable income.