The smithies i.e. workshops of blacksmiths in the capital are yet to see any business with only four days left for the Eid-ul Azha let alone being bullish. In the previous years, the ironsmiths were working day and night as machetes, choppers and knives are being heated in the flame of the forge. The smithies were full of clangors as a result of continuous hitting metal with metal. Although we were familiar with such feature before Eid-ul Azha, the scenario this year is totally different. Everything has become paused due to the clutch of coronavirus in the smithies.
Every year during this, it was difficult to talk to the blacksmiths but pin-drop silence is prevailing in the smithies this time. The blacksmiths are passing idle time with many of them taking rest in an odd time due to unavailability of any work order. As in previous years, a long queue is not visible this time in front of the smithies for purchasing machetes and choppers.
The scenario is almost the same in every smithy of the capital. Covid-19 has rewritten the long history of the smithies which become abuzz with clangors before Eid.
Most of the smithies have not been able to sell a portion of the iron-made household articles manufactured ahead of the Eid. There is no hurry to sharpen old machetes and choppers.
Every year this time around, machete sharpeners shout in the streets and lanes of the city urging the city dwellers to whet their machetes and choppers. Housewives leaving their work back in the kitchen used to come downstairs with machetes and choppers for sharpening. This year those knife sharpeners are not visible. It appears that coronavirus has rendered the machines of these sharpeners to a halt.
These blacksmiths are in trouble as far as their seasonal income is concerned.
According to the blacksmiths of Mohammadpur, Beribadh, Old Dhaka, Karwan Bazar of the capital, they have not witnessed such dismal scenes of the smithies before any Eid-ul Azha. They are also apprehending to face a similar situation in the future. This year the blacksmiths have manufactured a lesser amount of machetes, knives, and other similar household goods keeping into account different government directives and surrounding circumstances.
The blacksmiths also said that every year majority of the city residents turn up for sharpening the knives, machetes of their houses. However, this time even before four days before the Eid those people are not visible. As a result, the blacksmiths are passing idle time.
The shopkeepers, who used to be busy selling knives, machetes this time of the year, are seen passing their time gossiping yesterday. The shops used to have a crowd of buyers before the Eid but now struggling to find a single customer. According to the sellers, the reasons behind the scarcity of purchasers include migration of people from the capital to their villages due to coronavirus. Lack of businesses has left many vendors to lose their jobs and left for their village homes.
Every year one or two days before the Eid a bunch of seasonal butchers arrive in the capital Dhaka. These people are turning into a one-day butcher return to their villages after working throughout the Eid day in different neighbourhoods slaughtering animals and cutting meats. These seasonal butchers also thronged the blacksmith shops. However, as per the ironsmiths, there is no certainty over the arrival of those seasonal butchers in Dhaka.
Blacksmith named Sohel Mia from Karwan Bazar of the capital told The Business Post that there was no scope to breathe in the previous years due to workload. They had to ignore having lunch due to the overwhelming crowd of the buyers. However, this year not a single buyer has come to buy machetes and knives.
Another seller narrates all the machetes, knives loaded in his shop this year remain unsold. He has suffered a huge loss this time. He hopes that more buyers will turn out in the days to come.
Another ironsmith of Karwan Bazar named Raihan informed that so far he has one or two customers in an average while 30 to 40 buyers used to visit his shop per day earlier. He has expressed his frustration amid this situation.
Another blacksmith named Sujon informed that in the previous years he used to manufacture different products and sell the same simultaneously. But this time no one is turning up though his products are already displayed for sale.
There is neither any work nor any demand and sale. Coronavirus pandemic has shattered everything. In spite of so many odds, these blacksmiths are hoping that the market will heat up a bit in the last moments at least.
aa/wi/
