Invasion of cushion seaters leaves blind chair-knitters jobless

As office spaces and waiting lounges transitioned from plastic-wired chairs to comfortable cushions over the last two decades, visually challenged Maleyappa M and two of his friends have been left in the lurch.

They had been eking out a living by braiding wired chairs for several years. The intricate knitting provided a comfortable base and backrest of the chairs commonly seen in private firms and government offices alike till the beginning of the 21st century. Though a handful of organisations continue to use the plastic wired chairs, the cushion variety has almost entirely taken over office spaces.

Maleyappa, 55, who hails from Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu, says at least 15 of his fellow visually challenged people have been affected by the transition to cushion chairs and sofas.

'Skill needs vision'

Wiring the chairs is a skill that needs vision. “We work on chairs with touch sense. I’ve been in this line of work for 35 years. It demands immense patience and concentration since one wrong braid can hamper the comfort the chair offers. This helped me take care of my family. My son is doing SSLC and will get to higher studies,” Maleyappa said.

Workers take three hours to complete knitting a seat. But to weave the whole chair with the backrest will take at least half a day. It is not the hard work, but lack of work that concerns these visually challenged knitters.

Over the last 10 years, work orders have dropped by over 50%.

“We were paid Rs 375 for knitting a chair. Now, we hardly find work. The best scenario is getting work for 15 days a month,” said Lakshmi Narayan, who has been knitting chairs for 30 years, recalling how their skills were in demand in the 1980s. “We could work the whole month and comfortably run our families,” he said.

Narayan pointed out that the chair made it comfortable to work for long hours since they allowed easy air flow, while cushion chairs trapped the heat. The pandemic, however, seemed to have brought back the charms of the old chair. “There is at least 20% more work. People gradually realise the health benefits of using wired chairs and their longevity,” Maleyappa said.