Stuck in time warp, UP's carpet hub refuses to be swept under the rug

An industry, unravelling: Work is demanding, pay just enough

Thinking that a place like Kanakpur exists 50 kilometres (km) from where global supermajors like Walmart, Ikea, Hays, and John Weiss, among others, source carpets to sell the world over could play tricks on the mind.

A short drive from Bhadohi — India’s hand-woven carpet hub — the village of many weavers is still stuck in time. It doesn’t help that the man who represented this area as a legislator since 2007 is Vijay Mishra — a dreaded don or so-called bahubali brahmin presently lodged in prison on extortion and other charges. That a person like Mishra could win an