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Famed Rampuri knives may soon go into oblivion
by Vipul Goel
Rampur:
The old time moviegoers would recall the kind of impact
Rampuri knives used to create in the Bollywood films of
the 60s and 70s. These Rampuri 'Churis' or knives' gained
nation wide popularity through the tinsel screen when
popular Bollywood actors of Madan Puri, Pran, Jeevan,
K N Singh, Ansari, Hira Lal, Sajjad and Sheikh Mukhtar
flashed them during their unforgettable negative roles.
The Rampuri, once the sole weapon the small time villains
of Hindi cinema, has now been replaced with an array of
arms ranging from cycle chains to pistols and even swords.
After the Uttar Pradesh government's decision in the mid-1990s
to ban knives with blades longer than 4.5 inches, the
Rampuri started to lose popularity. Sadly, what used to
be a trump card in the hands of the villains of yore is
no more in demand these days. Today, the famed knife-makers
of Rampur in Uttar Pradesh are finding it hard to sustain
themselves through knives' business. They are living a
life full of hardship. Old timers here recount that the
once famed Rampur market in Uttar Pradesh was used to
be full of shops, stocking Rampuri knives. It is said
most of the gory incidents reported in police stations
were carried out using these lethal Rampuri "Churis'(knives).
"I have been involved with this business since many years.
Previously, their used to be 60 to 70 persons involved
in making sharp Rampuri knives. Today, just a few have
left in this traded. The trade has been facing a tough
time since there is no government support for us to sustain
in challenging time," said Rahmat Ali, a Rampuri knife-maker.
Knife-makers in Rampur say that it existed literally a
cottage industry in the past unlike today with just a
handful engaged in making these knives. Apart from the
knife-makers, there were allied artisans for the moulds
and handles. High cost of raw material and a low profit
margin has also led to the dropping business of Rampuri
knives. The old timers in Rampur say that things have
not been as they used to in the past. The labour invested
in the work doesn't have good returns. "We make moulds
for the knives. We don't make knives, it is made by different
people. We won't be teaching this work to our children.
There is less money and more of labour in this business,"
said Jareen Ahmed, one mould maker.
-Dec
7, 2008
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