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In Odisha, wild TASSAR cocoons are gathered from Mayurbhanj, Keyurgharh, Sunderghad jungles by tribal people who live in the vicinity. This is controlled by SERIFED, the State Tassar Federation. The procured cocoons are kept in deep pits, covered with leaves, for a few days and the heat generated within the pit, kills the worms. The federation then sells these cocoons to various tassar producing weavers’ co-operative societies in the Cuttack district.
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The greyish cocoon has a hard shell and to soften them, they are wrapped in a fine cloth and boiled in a mixture of water and banana ash and stored in a terracotta container to retain the moisture. The tassar thread is super fine, so depending on the thickness of yarn required, threads from anywhere between 8 to18 cocoons are pulled and reeled together, giving a low twist on the thigh to form the required yarn for weaving. Around 1300 cocoons would give one kilo of yarn. Women who reel the tassar yarn earn around Rs.500 to Rs.600 for one kilo of reeled yarn which would take anywhere between 5 to 6 days or more, depending on the hours they spend reeling the yarn.
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Thigh spinning had reduced dramatically, but now with an increase in demand for hand spun tassar, women are happy to spin if they are paid for their efforts. With money being given directly in the hands of the women who spin, production has increased substantially and this has empowered the women, giving them a feeling of self-worth. When women have control over money, they most often spend on better nutrition for their young children and their education and this reflects in the well-being of the family.
There is a misconception that thigh reeling is hazardous to health. In conversation, many women mentioned, “no woman has had a rash, or any skin infection or illness due to reeling the yarn on the thigh. For generations we have followed this practice and we find thigh reeling most practical and comfortable. It is injurious only when synthetic chemicals are used while boiling the cocoons to soften them, but we use natural soda ash”.
