Adventures in India - Part 12 (Who needs a Stinking Factory?)

Dear Family and Friends,

When I think of making products, I naturally think of a factory with machines and warehouses.  

India has factories, machines and warehouses, but we were really intrigued to find that some things are done at a grass roots level.  

Here are few we were fortunate enough to witness:

Making bricks:

This fella mixes water with the red clay to make the right consistency of mud.  He then fills the molds.  

The bricks formed in these molds are dried in the sun and then fired in an oven made of bricks.

Making rope:

This guy is putting the fiber that is on the outside of coconuts into this shredder.

The fibers that are created are twined together using the contraption pictured below.  The man, in the red checked shirt, turned the crank as the other man kept a taught hold on the fiber, creating rope.  

Here is one of our travel companions giving it a try.

Below is a bed made of rope.  I don't know how common this type of bed is, but I found it very interesting.

I also found it interesting that things we toss in the garbage here, is used to create something new.  This rope is very strong and durable.

As our bus was leaving this demonstration, I noticed another family also making rope.  

Roasting cashews:


This is what cashew nuts look like right from the tree.

One lady is roasting the nuts and the other lady is cracking them open.

This third lady packages them up and sells them along the roadside.

The neat thing to me, is that all of these things were done outside.  No big factory or machinery used.  

I found all of this very interesting.

Next post I will share about our elephants.

Love,
Nancy