Sanganer Hand Block Printing Producer Company Limited

Down here at Plot No 3-4 on Ganesh Vihar Diggi Road, things are usually covered in some kind of dye. This is where Sanganer Hand Block Printing Producer Company Limited operates. Sanganer is famous for this kind of work, so we just fit right in. We have the blocks laid out and the tables ready. It’s not a quiet place. You can hear the rhythmic thumping of the blocks hitting the cloth all day long. Some days the water is cold, other days it’s just humid. We don't have a fancy reception area. If you come to see us, you’ll probably find us near the drying racks or checking the print alignment on a long stretch of cotton. The sun helps dry the cloth outside when it’s not raining. We are a group of people trying to keep this old way of doing things alive. It’s a lot of manual labor. Your hands get stained and your back gets tired after a few hours. We don’t use machines for the printing part because that’s not what we are about. We just take the orders, get the fabric ready, and start stamping. Sometimes the colors don't come out exactly the same, but that’s just how hand printing works. It’s real and it’s what we do. The office is just a small room in the corner where we keep the papers and have a bit of tea when there is a break. It's not fancy but it works.