Bhagirot: Cobbling With A Mission
After Thoubal, native cobblers set to conquer Singjamei
Source: Hueiyen News Service / Maisnam Karnajit
Imphal, October 05 2012:
AFTER HAVING conquered Thoubal bazaar with his innovative and skillful ideas on shoe making and repairing, he has set his foot in Singjamei Bazaar to conquer the area and inculcate a sense of work culture among the people of the state.
A cobbler by profession, Naorem Bhagirot of Waithou Sangomshang, is one individual who has great regard for every profession one could possibly take up and is taking up all possible means to inculcate a sense of work culture among the indigenous Manipuri community.
Naorem Bhagirot started his profession as a cobbler in the early 80's.After having worked in Thoubal bazaar along with his brothers and friends, whom he had trained them in the profession, Bhagirot and his team was able to make a stronghold in shoe repairing profession in entire Thoubal bazaar area, which was earlier dominated by non-Manipuris from outside the state.
Now, Bhagirot has set foot in Singjamei bazaar to carry on the business.
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In an exclusive interview with Hueiyen Lanpao, Naorem Bhagirot said that he started off his profession in shoe repairing since 1982.He made himself comfortable with a pair of brushes and shoe polishes in a corner of a waiting shed along Khuyathong road in Imphal.
Later on, at the insistence of his family members, he went back to his home town in Thoubal and started the business in Thoubal bazaar.
In order to equip himself with necessary skills, Bhagirot also took lessons from one Lalji, a cobbler from Patna, who was an old timer in Thoubal bazaar.
Bhagirot recalled that when he got into the profession there was a number of non-Manipuris working as cobblers in Thoubal.
It was during this time he began imparting the skills of mending shoes to his brother Birbal and some of his friends.
Soon, they started following the profession which later on also inspired a number of Meetei Pangals to follow suit.
Now, the situation has completely changed and one can hardly see non-Manipuri cobblers in Thoubal bazaar.
The area has been completely dominated by Meetei cobblers.
Satisfied with his work in Thoubal, Bhagirot turned his attention towards Singjamei Bazaar.
With the main purpose of instilling a sense of work culture in the minds of the people of the state and also to take over the work which otherwise is dominated by non-Manipuris for the last many years, Bhagirot came down to Singjamei along with his brother Birbal in 2010.Since then they have been expanding their trade.
"Another Meetei Pangal has also joined our profession and now we have been able to drive away few non-Manipuri cobblers from Singjamei area with the help of our innovative skills in shoe making and repairing and sincerity towards our customers", Bhagirot stated with pride.
Nonetheless, Bhagirot has some complaints over the attitude of the customers towards native cobblers and said that the people of the state have an inclination to think that Manipuri cobblers, or for that matter, any other Manipuri in other professions, are not trustworthy when compared with non-Manipuris.
"As such they leave behind their own brothers who are working more efficiently than their non-Manipuri counterparts and go to the non- localites who charge more and have less experience", Bhagirot lamented.
He exclaimed with confidence that customers who have paid visit to him once never get away from him.
"This is because of the fact that we do our work with more sincerity, care for quality work and charge lesser than non-Manipuri cobblers", he added.