Waraq biz glitters in Hyd

City ranks third in country for silver foils manufacturing

Amidst the bustle and clamour of a myriad of traditional businesses like glass-embedded bangles, pearls, enamel jewellery and wares in crystal and bidri, the by-lanes of the majestic 400-year-old Charminar house another small-scale traditional industry "� 'waraq' (silver foils) that adds glitter to the Indian sweets.

Waraq, an Arabic word for 'foliage or leaves', is used as a decorative cover on sweets, pan, zarda, supari and chyavanprash and also as an ingredient in Unani medicine.

S A Khader of Charminar Waraq Shop said that the Indian waraq business, estimated to be around Rs 165 crore, manufactures close to 275 tonnes of silver foils annually.

"Hyderabad ranks third in the manufacture of waraq business after Gujarat and New Delhi. The 10 to 12 shops in Hyderabad cater to the needs of all the sweet and pan shops across the state. On an average, these shops produce five to six kilograms of silver foils, and 30 to 40 grams of gold foils a day," he said.

According to Khader, who has been in the waraq business for the last 55 years, "The waraq manufacturing business was introduced to Hyderabad 200 years ago by a Delhiite, Azmath Dhar Khan. Initially, there were only four to five shops. With the waraq gaining importance as a popular decorative item when it came to the knowledge of the sweet meat shop owners that this white metal could be used as an attractive cover on sweets, the business grew by leaps and bounds. At present, there are around 10 to 12 shops in Hyderabad and these are all old family businesses."

Unraveling the intricate techniques hidden beyond the glitter of these malleable metal foils, Abdul Rehman, another leading waraq manufacturer said, "Waraq-making involves a lot of sweat and time. First, tiny pieces of silver are padded between sheets of dried deerskin and then the sheets are tucked into a deer leather book. The deer leather book, which costs anywhere between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000, is bought from Delhi and lasts for about a year. The labourer then smashes the pouch with a hammer against a slab of black granite. After two hours of pounding, the pieces of silver transform into brittle, airy sheets of paper."

"Nearly 200 silver foils can be made from 10 grams of silver. While we sell 100 foils of silver for Rs 60, gold foils are sold at Rs 4,000 per 100 papers," he added. Rehman said that around 500 labourers are working in the waraq shops and are being paid a daily wage of Rs 100 each.

Speaking on the medicinal properties of silver foils, Khader said that people were ignoring the good qualities of silver foils and were instead getting attracted to modern medicines.

"Consuming one gram of silver or gold foils a month keeps you energetic and full of beans. And that is the reason why silver foils are being used in Unani medicine for centuries," he said.

Unlike in any other business, waraq manufacturers have no associations. Neither do they have problems like the menace of middlemen.

"In fact, our business has been flourishing for the last one decade. With more and more sweet shops and pan shops sprouting up across the state, we have been witnessing a 10 per cent growth year-on-year. We expect this trend to continue in the future too," Mouinuddin, a leading Hyderabad-based waraq manufacturer, pointed out.