Rangpur tupi makers have no time to breathe as Eid nears

RANGPUR, Mar 27: Tupi (Muslim cap) makers in different upazilas of Rangpur district are passing busy time making wide varieties of neatly-designed caps as the holy Eid-ul-Fitr is knocking at the door.

The artisans are engrossed in making tupi applying a superb combination of colorful threads and aesthetic designs.

Thousands of tupi makers in the district have been putting up utmost efforts from morning to night to make caps of unique standard since the very beginning of Ramadan in the run-up to the biggest festival of the Muslim community.

Some female artisans including Rajena Begum, Marufa Khatun, Fatema, Rejwana, Muktamoni and Jemi Begum of Haragachh Thakurdas area of Kaunia upazila told

The Financial Express that as the Eid-ul-Fitr is approaching, they are passing busy time sewing caps.

They said that each tupi is being made using a combination of colorful threads and designs.

The caps are completed with skillful touch of the craftsmen and with full sweetness of the artists' mind. Each cap is made with aesthetic designs, they also said.

They added, every year, the demand for caps increases ahead of Eid. They also eagerly wait for this special occasion.

The agents of tupi traders from different places of the country collect caps from the district by giving the makers payment for each cap.

The makers are also provided with required materials like fabric, designs and thread for making caps by the agents of the traders.

An artisan can earn Tk2,500 to Tk3,500 monthly for making tupi. But during the time of Eid, their income increases from Tk4000 to Tk 5000, they further said.

They get Tk800 to Tk1,800 for making each cap depending on quality and designs.

Sabina Begum, a housewife from Nabdiganj area of Pirgachha upazila, told the FE, "I mainly design caps which are exported to Oman. Cap traders collect tupi from me after completion of sewing. The traders also provide the tupi artisans with cap fabric and threads."

"My average monthly income is Tk 3000. But during Eid time I can earn Tk4,500 to Tk5,000. I also give some

money to my husband every month for family expenses," she said.

"I have bought a new dress for my daughter with the money earned from cap sewing on the occasion of upcoming Eid," she added.

Expressing satisfaction, Firoja Begum, another cap worker of Shahidbag area under Kaunia upazila, told The FE that she was passing her days amid abject poverty even three years ago.

Her husband was a day labourer. It was very difficult for her to manage her family of five members with the paltry amount of income of her husband.

Frustrated Firoja started thinking how to maintain their impoverished family.

Later, she was informed by some other women of her areas about sewing caps and joined the profession. Thus she found the way to mange her family expenditure.

She also said that she designs three caps in a month. By designing three caps, she usually, earns Tk3,000 per month. But during Eid time they get more remuneration from the traders due to higher demands of caps.

With the additional amount of income, she along with her husband and daughters can pass their days comfortably and become able to meet her daughters' demands on occasion of Eid, she added.

Cap traders Mukul Mia and Mahmudul of Kaunia upazila said presently, cap workers of the upazila as well as other areas of the district are passing very busy time making caps ahead of Eid.

In addition to the local demand, the demand for caps made in the upazila is also high in various Middle East countries like Oman, Kuwait and Qatar.

Nazrul Mia, a former Union Parishad member of Kaunia upazila, told

The Financial Express that a good number of extreme poor women of different areas of Kaunia and some other upazilas have found the way to contribute to their families financially by earning from making caps apart from doing household chores.

Making tupi has helped them overcome the curse of extreme poverty, he added.

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