Walking the length and breadth of Sri Lanka sharpening instruments
In the informal sector of Sri Lanka’s economy there are many successful individuals as well as entities, but they are often not accounted for in measuring their impact on the mainstream economy. There are a plenty of them from the wayside betel seller, to the gypsy women reading palms and yet they make a living – some a good living as such.
Mr. T. Rajah sharpening a knife.
T. Rajah, now in his sixties, has worked as a sharpener of knives and scissors for nearly half a century; he knows every nook and corner of the country and often most of the housewives could hear his voice “Nona, pihiya muwath thiyanawa, kathuru muwath thiyanawa”.
He said that he started his job first in a go-cart like instrument pushing it all along the road and then shifted to take the sharpening stone on his shoulder. With the passing of time, he said that with modern technology there came many alternatives to sharpening, using his facility, which even could be used by housewives in their kitchens. But this has not affected his job yet.
Having walked along almost all the areas of the country for nearly half a century, Mr. Rajah is indeed a successful entrepreneur earning on average Rs. 2,000 per day and apart from the daily household and other expenses, he told the Business Times he could save around Rs. 20,000 per month.
In the early days of his life they were living in Kandy District, Kundasale, but due to the construction of the Victoria Dam as their habitat went under water, they were given land 20 perches each in the Digana area and the government provided Rs, 20,000 to build a new house.
He got married to a girl from Aluthwatte, Kerawalapitiya off Wattala and now he and his family live there. He is now 60 years old, starting his profession when he was as young as 12 years. He starts his work around 9 to 9.30 in the morning and with his sharpening stone on his shoulders he used to walk until evening falls.
He said that he would not select the same area twice but chooses the areas especially during different festival seasons. During Christmas time, he said he would select Catholic areas down the western coast say up to Chilaw or so.
During Sinhala New Year season he would go to places like Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Mahiyanganaya and in another time he would visit places like Galle, Matara and Hambantota. When business is doing well he would extend the working hours up to even 8 pm. Depending on the business he would work even on Sundays and Poya days.
Mr. Rajah said that in the early days of his career they were getting lot of business from barber salons where scissors, razors, hair cutting machines needed sharpening. He said that occasionally even thugs and trouble makers approach him to get their weapons like swords etc to be sharpened.
Expenditure of the family has been well managed and with the savings he could complete the building of the house and also he was able to get all his five children married. Even walking 10 miles a day is not a problem and in fact he was doing this for the last 48 years.