Manufacturers Of Garments In Thirupur (Tamilnadu-India) Poem by Rajendran Muthiah

The manufacturer of hosiery garments
has got the name 'Supplier' from the buyers of garments.
He has to procure dyed or undyed yarn,
for making garments with charming designs,
embroidered or printed at the front and back.
Knitting, dyeing, compacting, washing and padding,
the Supplier arranges to do, to bring the streakless fabric.
My God! He remains sleepless in tension, till
the cutting, stitching, checking, ironing and packing are over.
The frets and worries cast him down for ever.
Borrowed loans lie in wait to bury him deep in agony.

Dare not launch on this business after sixty
as the merchandiser keeps you within the factory
and earns his commissions doing outdoor work.
He brings in his own men and women to work
and blackmail the Supplier demanding increased wages,
for the workers, whose welfare he always talks aloud.
His nifty talk and wide knowledge in all areas of work
make the Supplier build castles for earning huge profit.
He will dig the Supplier's grave in stages and land him in perils.
The company's profit will be zero but the merchandiser's swells.
He will be pushing his hands into his pockets
to help the Supplier at times of need.
When penury seizes the Supplier, he will be readily suggesting:
' Give the company to someone on lease'.

The buyers warn you to finish the work in time
Or else face debit or discount in the payment.
The tailors in booze spoil the work and work no overtime.
Checking women too work at a snail's pace
demanding enhanced rates for tea, tiffin, …
The Quality Checkers from the buying office assail the Supplier
with words of insult and take out the packed garments
for rectifying, re-ironing and packing, accumulating the loss.
Inspections in the end by opening the carton boxes
shatters the heart of the Supplier with alarms of loss.
A canny Supplier can ward off the loss but lack of basics
in this field will drown him and make him bite the dust.
A tenacious man can stand if financial backing is sound.
The Supplier can't give up the business in the middle
as the predicaments will be hard to surmount.

'Hey! You newcomer to the business.
Don't do job-work to big companies.
They will delay the payment for more than a year or cheat you
and drive you out of Thirupur in an overnight.
What you pay instantly to the workers
won't be coming to your accounts from the big companies,
who with a lot of clout are merciless in denying payment
to the new Suppliers who start the business in a small scale.
The present workers in buying offices and big companies
were the past owners of small, garment- making companies.