Knife sharpeners at work in Dharwad; a mobile knife sharpener in Bengaluru.
Credit: DH Photos by Govindraj Javali and Pushkar V
Come dawn, Basanna, a knife sharpener in Dharwad, mounts his sharpening tools on his father’s bike and travels as far as 25 to 30 km every day to find knives to sharpen. “I have been doing this since I was 18 years old. I am now 32. Some days, I cannot take it anymore,” he says.
During the summer, he travels as far as Karwar for a few weeks and lives in temples or government schools. “Word goes around and people bring their knives to me. Some people also bring us food or allow us to eat in the temples itself,” he adds.
Life for knife sharpeners is one marred with uncertainty and a lack of support from the government, causing many to live hand to mouth.
At least 61 such families live in Lakamanahalli in Dharwad. They have been identified as members of the Alemari nomadic tribe, and many have organised themselves under the Durgamma Devi Shakti Sangha.
“We have been doing this for several decades with little support from anyone,” says Ramanna Siddappa Haranashikari (70), head of the Sangha. “In the past, we shifted from place to place. Some families’ homes in Navalur were bulldozed, so they had no choice but to move away. If we are made to move out again, we will have no place to live.”
Although the government has built homes under the Karnataka Ashraya Yojana in Dharwad, only about 21 of these families have been allotted homes so far. Those living in these homes also struggle without electricity and water, says Shivappa, one of the residents.
On a good day, the knife sharpeners earn between Rs 300 to Rs 500. Every six months, they travel to Mangaluru to bring the sharpening rock, which costs them about Rs 10,000.
The knife-sharpening machine is a simple apparatus — a circular piece of whetstone is fixed on a four-legged metal body with a pedal specially welded for this purpose. Traditionally, knife sharpeners mounted this machine onto the back or to one side of their cycles. Now, this machine is also mechanised, operated by a motor.
Most children in the community study till Class seven in a government school nearby; many drop out after that because higher education schools are farther away, says Shivappa, who has been a knife sharpener for nearly 30 years.
“There is little hope for our children outside of education, because we do not know anything else to sustain ourselves. Some people have even resorted to begging to earn money,” he remarks, disappointment palpable in his voice.
Across Bengaluru
Cultural shifts, new tools and alternative options have led to only a few knife sharpeners remaining in Bengaluru. Every day, Andhra Pradesh native Alluraiah parks his cycle and sets up a temporary knife-sharpening shed under a tree in Rajarajeshwari Nagar in southwest Bengaluru, hoping people avail his services. He is among many who relocated to the city a few years ago to practise the profession. Alluraiah lives with nine others. “Some days, I earn a little money when I go around in my cycle, which was set up for about Rs 15,000, eight years ago,” he says.
Residents have also seen this trade disappear from the streets. Sudharshini GD, a senior citizen and resident of Padmanabhanagar, noted that she hardly sees mobile knife sharpeners twice or thrice a year now, compared to at least twice a week several years ago.
“It seems the number of door-to-door vendors coming by has dwindled, taking away a certain charm out of our daily lives. Those few minutes when we went out to buy something or get the knives sharpened were also ways to catch up with a neighbour or talk to the vendor,” she says.
“Services such as knife sharpening can be Googled too, I have heard. Is that right?” she wonders.
J P Nagar resident and private firm employee Santosh has seen many such knife sharpeners on cycles in his childhood. However, he has never availed their services. “I have bought a knife-sharpening tool for about Rs 400 from the supermarket and use that to keep my knives sharp,” he says.
Abhip (38), from Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh, who lives on Tannery Road, cannot hide his disappointment about the decline in business. “Business is not as it used to be before. I earn barely Rs 200 each day and go around a few areas every day, as far as Tin Factory sometimes,” he says.
At the bustling Russell market too, only a couple of knife sharpeners are left. Mohammad Shoaib (24) sits, sharpening dull knives in a small storefront. “I have been working since I was 12 years old. We get all our tools via train from Meerut and Delhi, which costs us about Rs 15,000. The tools need to be replaced every four months,” he says.
Lalbagh resident Mahboob (48), who has set up his sharpening machine and displays a few sharpened knives for sale, has done this for nearly three years now. The younger generation in his family, he notes, refuses to take this up. “This profession does not yield much money and requires a lot of hard work, so it makes sense that they do not want to do this. The line of work is likely to end with me.”
For DH Spectrum: A mobile knife sharpener in Rajarajeshwari Nagar Benglauru.
Credit: DH PHOTO/PUSHKAR V
Haranashikari Jananga Sharpening knife.
Credit: Photo by/ Govindraj Javali
Haranashikari Jananga Sharpening knife.
Credit: Photo by/ Govindraj Javali
Haranashikari Jananga Sharpening knife.
Credit: Photo by/ Govindraj Javali
For DH Spectrum: A mobile knife sharpener in Rajarajeshwari Nagar Benglauru.
Credit: DH PHOTO/PUSHKAR V
For DH Spectrum: A mobile knife sharpener in Rajarajeshwari Nagar Benglauru.
Credit: DH PHOTO/PUSHKAR V
For DH Spectrum: A mobile knife sharpener in Rajarajeshwari Nagar Benglauru.
Credit: DH PHOTO/PUSHKAR V
For DH Spectrum: A mobile knife sharpener in Rajarajeshwari Nagar Benglauru.
Credit: DH PHOTO/PUSHKAR V