They are spread like a carpet of wildflowers all along the roadside from Dehradun to Mussoorie. Except that there are no flowers, just a riot of colours of every hue that brightens up the scorched hillside. Within a span of fifteen kilometers, a dozen carpet sellers, stain the hillside with splashes of colour. They are all for the picking: woollen ones rub shoulders with synthetic; runners and jhumaar and foot mats festoon the bushes and trees if they are not strung out between straggly trees. All this is done to catch the eye of the tourists and local commuting on the winding roads.
Come meet Irkaan – the sole bread winner for a family of ten, who will tell you: ‘we traditionally belong to Madhavsingh village near Bhadoi in Uttar Pradesh known for its carpet business, but I moved to Dehradun some 30 years ago. As temperatures rise in the plains our business takes a dip and we move to the hills to make a living.’
And they are at it, this selling of carpets, from ten in the morning to six at dusk, and the take home can be anywhere between a hundred to two thousand rupees a day. Vibrant colours; lovely designs, of all shapes and sizes do attract buyers, though many just stop to ask the price and carry on, as we notice. I meet a prospective buyer from Hyderabad and she tells us, ‘ We don’t get this variety at such a throw away price in any of the Malls that I have visited, this is a steal deal if you want value for money.’
So next time you are driving up and down the winding roads to Mussoorie, make sure you buy something from these carpet merchants which will definitely add more colour and warmth to your home.
