The Colorful Village With Colorful Cloths Editorial Photo

Waves of every color swaying in the wind , and a sweet scent of freshly cut fabric everywhere. It seems the waves of color extended towards horizon. This scene is from Narayanganj's Araihajar Banti, Rupganj's Noagaon and Chanpara villages.A village which once was surrounded by scarcity, its children could not go to school as their parents were unable to pay the fees, now changed the scenario up side down and become a role model for the whole country. Now the families of these villages associated with batik business are earning Tk 2,160 crores annually.Banti village is only 32 km away from Dhaka. All those three villages including Banti are now famous for batik. Batik cloths of three villages are sold in Banti Bazar. Abdul Hai Bhuiyan, President of Banti Bazaar Traders Association, said that batik business started in this market in 1981. At present it has turned into a hub. There are 22 small and big markets on both sides of this hub. There are almost 2500 shops in these markets. Right now 1,500 shops are in operation. The rest of the shops will also open before the next holy month of Ramadan and Pahela Baisakh. Each of the 1,500 shops sell an average of Tk 40,000 worth of batik goods per day. According to that, there is a business of 180 crore rupees per month. And the annual business is 2 thousand 160 crore Taka.From dawn to dusk, the men and women of these villages are busy making batik. As far as the eye can see, cloths painted in various traditional designs are seen hanging on ropes. Residents of the village are dyeing clothes in the yard, side roads, land or open fields, some are blocking, others are drying wet clothes in the sun.