The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Vermicelli makers in dire straits

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Thursday, Sep 11, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Vermicelli makers in dire straits

Abhijit Dev Kumar

-PHOTO: NAGARA GOPAL

Some hope: Vermicelli maker in the old city drying ‘semia’ during Ramzan season.

Hyderabad: Several families from old city, who make vermicelli (semia) during the holy month of Ramzan, are incurring heavy losses due to incessant rain that has been lashing the twin cities for the past two weeks.

Most of them take a break from their regular jobs and start preparing vermicelli two months prior to Ramzan. Unfortunately for them, this year has not been good and their businesses have been hit hard.

S.A. Wahab, a semia-maker and resident of Dabeerpura, has been in the profession for the last 30 years. On any given day, he churns out about 25 kg vermicelli with the help of eight people and during Ramzan, the total production goes up to 30 quintals. “The ingredients are getting wasted,” laments Mr. Wahab.Another vermicelli-maker, Mallika Shah sits with her four children, all aged below 10, in her home in Yakutpura and trains them in the art of making ‘semia’. They slog it out from early morning to late night and if there are any special orders, the work goes on till 2 a.m. “My father taught me when I was eight . But with rising costs, it’s difficult to make both ends meet in these two months. We have no choice but to stop now but come sunlight and we are back at work”, she says.

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