A group of women giggle shyly at me on Google Meet as Pandiselvi, a former firecracker factory worker, proceeds to describe how her life has changed for the better in Sivakasi. She mentions the “random headaches and stomach ailments” she had while working at the factory in Virudhunagar district in Tamil Nadu, adding that the promise of weekly wages kept her going. Over the last few years, the firecracker capital of India has been seeing an increase in the number of fatal explosions.
With their families discouraging them from working in such unsafe environments, Pandiselvi, 27, explains that the employment opportunity at Rope International, situated in nearby Madurai, came at the right time. The women are now being trained in multiple hand weaving and crafting techniques, using natural fibres like banana fibre, water hyacinth and river grass, to create about 1,000 different products, from wicker baskets and planters to lampshades and place mats. At the Rope factory in Madurai| Photo Credit:Special Arrangement Positive chain reaction The workforce of the lifestyle and home accessories company, incubated at IIT Madras and whose customer base includes international retail giants like IKEA and H&M, is across the South but most of them are concentrated in and around Sivakasi.
Since 2008, teams have been working with natural materials sourced from across South India. Rope International’s co-founder, Sreejith Nedumpully, says it was while touring a few villages in rural Tamil N.
