Madhusudan_Das

His Life and Achievements: 77
work there. He brought a German [expert] with him and set up a
factory. It is no longer under him. I do not know its present condition.
Many Harijans learnt the work during the days of Madhusudan Das.
Like Madhusudan Das you too should first master the craft. It cannot
be done in one month's time. You can do very well, if you learn it
properly. I can make arrangements for your training.
XIII : VILLAGE TANNING AND ITS POSSIBILITIES
Village tanning is as ancient as India itself. No one can say
when tanning became a degraded calling. It could not have been so
in ancient times. But we know today that one of the most useful and
indispensable industries has consigned probably a million people to
hereditary untouchability. An evil day dawned upon this unhappy
country when labour began to be despised and, therefore, neglected.
Millions of those who were the salt of the earth, on whose industry
this country depended for its very existence, came to be regarded as
low class and the microscopic leisured few became the privileged
classes, with the tragic result that India suffered morally and materially.
Which was the greater of the two losses it is difficult, if not impossible,
to estimate. But the criminal neglect of the peasants and the artisans
has reduced us to pauperism, dulness and habitual idleness. With her
magnificent climate, loft)' mountains, mighty rivers and an extensive
seaboard, India has limitless resources, whose full exploitation in her
villages should have prevented poverty and disease. But the divorce
of the intellect from body-labour has made of us perhaps the shortestlived,
most resourceless and most exploited nation on earth. The state
of village tanning is, perhaps, the best proof of my indictment. It was
the late Madhusudan Das who opened my eyes to the great crime
against a part of humanity. He sought to make reparation by opening
what might be called an educational tannery. His enterprise did not
come up to his expectations, but he was responsible for the livelihood
of hundreds of shoemakers in Cuttack.
It is estimated that rupees nine crores worth of raw hide is annually
exported from India and that much of it is returned to her in the shape of
manufactured articles. This means not only a material but also an
intellectual drain. We miss the training we should receive in tanning and
preparing the innumerable articles of leather we need for daily use