A small Indian town finds its place in the global economy

Cosmopolitanism is a trademark of our national cities, and its harbinger is often employment opportunities that draw people from across the country. If there is a little microcosm of such a development, it has to be in Tirupur, the garment-manufacturing town in northern Tamil Nadu. It is also known as India's knitwear capital and attracts five lakh workers from across India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. From a little village forty years back to a small export hub clocking Rs 15 crore in 1985 to Rs 12,000 crore of hosiery exports expected this year - it has been quite a journey for Tirupur, or Tiruppur.

Our story on the village-slowly-turning-into-a-city explores how entrepreneurs from agrarian families are grappling with global opportunities and crisis. It talks about the threats that the town's industry faces from problems that would never tickle the imagination of a village - and how it might overwhelm its spirit. Here, we present some snapshots from Tirupur - that showcase a transition. It also shows a delightful mix of tradition and modern. 

Text by Suman Layak

Accident: Tirupur, or Tiruppur, has seen sudden prosperity and therefore big cars. Road accidents are common and the district administration has put up huge hoardings with gory pictures of accidents to caution motorists.

Text by Suman Layak

Auto-rickshwas: Autorickshwas are of the main mode of transport in this developing town apart from buses. This is a row of auto-rickshaws outside Tiruppur station. (The station name is spelt Tiruppur.)

Text by Suman Layak

Demon: All factories and houses of Tirupur have an image of the demon Kirtimukha painted on the outdoors. The demon is popular in this town and is ubiquitous by its presence. Kitimukha was created and blessed by Shiva and as per Puranic tradition is worshipped as a demon that drives away the evil.

Text by Suman Layak

Dyeing unit: The dyeing units as well as common effluent treatment plants at Tirupur use a lot of firewood for their energy needs. Firewood is cheap and is easily available.

Text by Suman Layak

Factory: Almost five lakh migrant workers come to Tirupur in search for work. While most of the women are from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, now men from as far as Nepal and Sri Lanka as well as from all parts of India are coming to this town in search of a livelihood.

Text by Suman Layak

Noyyal River: The Noyyal is not a perennial river and in the non-monsoon months is only fed by discharge from the households and factories. Farmers downstream have taken the dyeing units to court over the effluents that go into the Noyyal - creating a major crisis for Tirupur.

Text by Suman Layak

Temple: The Avinashi Lingeshwara temple at Tirupur is more than 1000 years old. It sets the tone for all other temples in the town, especially the new ones that follow its style of having different idols of Gods and Goddesses on the outer walls of the temple.

Text by Suman Layak

Tiruppur Station: Tiruppur Station is the biggest gateway for the five lakh workers who come to work in this town. There are yet no trains originating from Tiruppur and there are a few trains that still do not halt this very important stop.

Text by Suman Layak

TUV SUD Lab: The German certification agency TUV SUD has set up a lab in Tirupur to test the quality of the garments manufactured on their physical and chemical characteristics. Apart from testing on behalf of the buyers as well as the exporters, TUV SUD also conducts training in Tirupur for the local exporters.

Text by Suman Layak

A Viakulamary:  A Viakulamary, a former professor of psychology and who works for NGO Save, seen here in a class room of a school run by the NGO. Save intervenes with children coming to look for work in Tirupur and collects them from railway stations and tries to reunite them with their parents. It also runs a hostel for such children and provides them education. Viakulamary says that there is such a break down of social norms and families in Tirupur that women do not realize that they are pregnant even after several months into it. Guilt over extra-marital relations and unwanted pregnancies are a major reason for the 1,000-plus suicides recorded in the town over the last two years.

Text by Suman Layak

Vijay Kumar:  Vijay Kumar (22) from Nepal has risen to be a supervisor in Tirupur in four years. Mainly because there are a host of people from Nepal in his factory, Armstrong Knitting Mills and Kumar among all is the most proficient in Hindi. His wife has given birth to a daughter (Biva) in December 2010, and Kumar is going home in March 2011 to see her for the first time.

Text by Suman Layak