Muslim artisans weave magic in embroidery hub

You ask anyone about Sunet in Ludhiana and the first response would be “the place where Muslim artisans do hand embroidery”. The small place has become famous in the last three decades as hundreds of Muslim artisans have moved here permanently as people in Ludhiana don’t mind spending money on handicrafts as long as they get quality stuff.

Zubi Khan from a small village near Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh said it had been over 19 years since he came to Ludhiana as an embroider for a contractor. Today, he owns a shop and has kept 8-10 Muslim boys who work for him and his brother Danish Khan.

Sharing his journey, Zubi Khan said the city had given him everything he dreamt of. “Mine and my brother’s families have shifted here. We have our own house,” he added.

“The market is famous for hand and machine embroidery where boutique owners come to place orders for their clients as per the latter’s choice. Though it is the boutiques, which earn a good profit, we are happy that we get our share timely. There has never been any problem of getting payments,” said Zubi Khan.

All kinds of hand embroidery, including dabka, zardosi, pearl work, aari work, patch work, matardana work, etc is done here by the artisans and since they have a neat hand, most boutiques prefer to get suits made from Sunet only.

Not just the hand embroidery, machine embroidery is also done in this market. Besides the Muslim artisans, tailors have opened shops where clients come to get dresses stitched. “As compared to other boutiques and tailors, we stitch clothes at much reasonable prices,” said Aslam, a tailor. Though the market had a handful embroiders initially, the number of shops have grown to over 100 with time. Artisan Ubais Khan who hails from Uttar Pradesh is working here for over 25 years now. “Most workers are from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar,” he said, adding that the market was expanding with time. “Our families are settled here so are our kids who are studying in different schools,” said Khan.

Asked about their ties with Punjabis, Khan said by the grace of God they had never witnessed any unpleasant situation during their stay in Ludhiana. “People here are welcoming and warm-hearted. After so many years it has become our home. In fact, we go to our native places just for brief period and spent most of the time here,” said Khan.

Though their profit margins are not huge, the Muslim artisans are satisfied. “During wedding season, we get good returns. We make hand-embroidered bridal dresses and get up to a lakh for each dress, but then it takes a lot of labour and time to create one outfit. During the season, we work day and night for boutiques. We rarely get direct customers. Most of our dealings are with wholesalers and boutique owners,” said Altaf, another artisan. The articles made by them are sent overseas by the boutiques.