ArHi FF:1: The BEASTS and the BLEEDING ROSES - Page 42

Chapter Forty Five: Kushi at the AR Industry

The AR Industry was founded by Lord Arnav and Lord Akash jointly. When it came to deciding upon a name for their factory, they had decided to put their sister's name who was then not married and hence had been Lady Anjali Raizada and not Lady Anjali Jha. Well, the irony of the situation was that AR could easily stand for any one of the three young Raizadas.

Now, to describe the structure and working of the factory, I suggest we watch Kushi as she explored around the place. But first, she had to be admitted in. Since she was neither drowned nor lonely and homeless in a stormy night, it was doubtful whether she would be allowed to enter the gates. She had walked half the distance and then ran the rest of the way until she had crossed the bridge and then headed East towards the Industry. From afar, she saw the huge building and it looked bigger and scarier in the daylight than it had seemed on the stormy night when she came upon this place in search of refuge. She stood before the huge closed gates, trying to catch her breath, and remembered what the soldier, who had made her aware of the existence of this Industry, had told her on the night he had left her there, "You will be safe here."

"Hope that wasn't just for that night alone," muttered Kushi, as she looked through the bars to spot any sign of anyone.

It seemed to be deserted but there was a lot of noise coming from within as if pushing and pulling logs and the sound of many thread-wheels spinning.

The sound of horse wheels approaching behind her, made her look over her shoulder and to her delight she found it was the man who had dropped her home after a night's stay in the Industry.

"Master Lal," she approached the man with a smile, when he had stopped his cart on seeing her, "Do you remember me?"

"Ah, yes, aren't you that girl who came a few nights ago asking for shelter from the storm?" said the man his face lighting up on seeing her, "After you went, we talked of you. You had made quite a stir among us with your chatter."

"Oh, I am sorry I could never return to thank you all properly for having treated me so well," she apologized.

"Please, there is no need for that," he said, as he got down from his cart and walked to the gate, but on the way, he paused and looked at her, "Why are you here today?"

"I came to ask if you could accommodate me in your Industry for a job," began Kushi, but the man shook his head.

"We are full already and there seems to not be any need for an extra hand," he saw her face sadden and he added, "but if you are really desperate for a job, you could ask the Master."

"Will he give me a job if I do?"

"He might if he is willing," said the man and as he opened the gate; he shivered slightly, "The Master is a man of his word. He is very strong in his demands and dislikes."

"I wouldn't mind if I have to fall at his feet to get me a job but I am desperately in need of something to earn income by," said Kushi, "Things are not too well at home'.'."

"I wish I could help you, ma'am," said Lal, getting back on his cart and picking up the reins, "But I am not the one who decides such things around here."

He was about to lead his horses in when he noticed her standing dejected there and he was moved, "Listen, maybe you can come in and pay a visit to the laborers. The Master hasn't come yet so you can enter without the fear of getting caught. And when he arrives, you can approach him with the request for a job here."

Kushi perked up at this suggestion and after the cart had passed through the gate, she readily walked in and closed the gates shut behind her. She headed for the industry's huge entrance doors and saw Lal, after having parked his horse cart somewhere, waiting for her there. He beckoned her to enter and she followed after him.

"What is so special about silk?" asked Kushi, "I know it is very expensive and that only brides and royal people can wear it.''"

"Well, it's a healthy employment," said Lal, leading her inside, "Anyone can work at it once they learn how to do it and there is high earning per person. Besides, because of the material's uniqueness, it keeps the wearer warm in winter and cool in summer."

The entire factory was divided into two floors. On the top floor, at the far East end, were two enclosed rooms meant to be the offices of the two Masters of the place, among which one of them was the senior most Master and who had been vested with the fuller authority of running the industry.

Towards the other end of top floor was the glass encased huge room called the 'grainage' where 'silkworm farming' was conducted. Mulberry plants and other edible plants for worms were grown and this was where they reared the silkworms they had captured. Silkworm eggs were also collected and bred in this graingae.

Leaning forward, Kushi squinted at a cocoon hanging by a green stalk and asked, "When will it wake up?"

Lal laughed, "We don't wait for them to wake up. You see, a larva spends 30-35 days eating leaves and then reaches maturity. It spins a cocoon around itself in 2-3 days using a sticky liquid from its inside. This cocoon, when it is left to remain in the air for some time, becomes harder but it does not lose its gum."

"Is the gum needed?"

"No we don't need the gum," said Lal, "We degum some of them."

"Some of them?" asked Kushi, "Why only some?"

"We leave some to turn into moths so that they can breed the next generation of silkworms," said Lal

"Oh, of course," said Kushi, smiling. "How do you''.degum?"

"Come, I'll show you," said Lal, leading her down the stairs. As they climbed down, he explained the math to her, "A single thread is too thin so we actually need 48 individual silk filaments to make one thread."

"How much filament does one silkworm make?"

"A thousand yards," said Lal, "In all, 104 kg of mulberry leaves must be eaten by 3000 silkworms if we need to make 1kg of silk thread."

Kushi gasped, "That needs too many silkworms."

"Yes," said Lal, "And that is how it's made."

The floor below which was immensely large was majorly the 'silk production' place. It was divided into four sections. The first section was 'Silk Reeling', the second was 'Silk Weaving', third was 'Silk Dyeing' and the fourth was 'Silk Designing'.

At the reeling area, Kushi was shown how the silkworms underwent the degumming process. This was the hardest part for her to watch.

"You'.'you boil them?" Kushi was appalled, her hands placed over her mouth as she entered the heated room were huge pots boiled on strong fires.

"Yes," said Lal, quite coolly, "When we boil the cocoons, it kills the silkworm and also takes the gum off the filament. I think boiling is better because otherwise we would have had to pierce the silkworm within its cocoon."

"This is inhuman," said Kushi, feeling dizzy, "Oh dear, I can't stand this. Please let's leave."

Lal chuckled and nodded, "I will take you to the next section then, Miss Kushi."

"Next is Reeling," said Lal, "We unwind and extract the filament from the cocoon and form a continuous thread which is fed into these huge spinning reels. Six to twelve cocoons are reeled together and the reeled silk is called Raw Silk."

"Why raw?"

"Because it can't be used for weaving."

"What does it need then if you must use it for weaving?"

"The Raw Silk is twisted and fed into looms. It's called Twisting and the silk we get at the end is 'Twisted Silk' or Ready Silk."
"From Raw Silk to Ready Silk," Kush acknowledged, looking at the threads on the loom.

"And this is where we make the silk robes. We also manufacture gowns," said Lal, leading her to a room were hung many silkrobes of different shades and colors. They looked exotic and radiant and surrounded by an aura of luxury. Kushi touched them as she passed through the room. Soft, smooth, shiny silk''..

Lal looked at her as moved along, "They say that when you wear it, it seems to make your body appear more flattered and beautiful."

"I see," said Kushi, fingering the hem of a yellow robe.

After she was shown around the place, she was taken outside again and led to the room at the rear where the laborers always stayed when not working. There were a few people there, whose shift had not come about yet, and Kushi greeted them and they remembered her as soon as she had begun talking with them. It was approximately during this time that the carriage from the Castle had arrived at the gate, and it was let in.

The First Lord and Second Lord got down first and then the First Lord helped Lady Lavanya to get down. She held her umbrella open to shield her lovely hat from the sun and resumed her talking, "So where was I? Ah, yes! ASR, I need a personal handmaid when I am at this place. I cannot think of walking through an industry without a regular help beside me. I am always flanked by three maids whenever I step into Papa's industry."

The First Lord was the least bit interested in the conversation but he nodded to the man who had opened the gates for the carriage, "Take the lady to the Rear Room and let her pick herself a maid of her choice."

The man bowed low and after the First Lord and Second Lord had parted, bowed to the lady and said, "My Lady, look down upon this humble servant and let him guide you to the place the Master has asked you to be shown."

The lady was impressed, "ASR has trained his servants to be highly respectable to those above them, hasn't he?"

"He is a worthy Master, my lady," said the man, still bowed low, and he led her towards the Rear Room.

As soon as he opened the door and announced to the gathered of the arrival of an eminent Lady, a personal confidant of the Master himself, all talking stopped and people stood and bowed low, and Kushi, not knowing what was happening, bowed too.

And then entered the woman, having closed her umbrella on walking through the tiny door, muttering about how small it was, and how filthy it smelled. All eyes were bedazzled by her appearance. It was too rich for the plain-loving eyes and the people were content to keep their heads bowed and not look up. Only Kushi stared at the woman, and caught the woman's eye, "You!" The lady pointed at her with her closed umbrella point.

"Me?" Kushi asked, surprised.

"How dare you stare at me so?" The lady was not happy about the staring at all. Some people even gasped, still not daring to look up, not even to see the fury the woman might be displaying upon the helpless girl.

"I was''.." Kushi didn't know what to say for a moment but then realized that this was a woman and all women, rich and poor, liked to be praised, "I was amazed at your beauty, my Lady. To be more frank, I have never seen a woman dressed as immaculately as you." And to add to the respect, she even bowed low and waited for the woman's verdict.

Lady Lavanya was extremely pleased by that comment and she smiled before turning serious again, and pointed at the girl with the umbrella, "You!"

"Yes, my Lady?" said Kushi, looking up with sad afraid eyes, which she had purposefully made so.

"What is your name?"

"Kushi. Kushi Kumari Gupta."

"Then Miss Kushi," said Lady Lavanya, "You shall be my personal handmaid for my visits to this Industry."

"Yes, my Lady," said Kushi humbly, wanting to hop about and smile but struggling to not show it on her face. Was she just handed a job? A rich job of being a rich lady's handmaid? She would have to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

"But my Lady," said the man at the door who had led the lady in, "This girl is not of our workers. She came here only to-"

"I want no explanations and no excuses," insinuated Lady Lavnaya, "I want this girl as my handmaid and I shall have no one refute it."

"Yes, my Lady" said the man and he led her outside.

"Miss Kushi," ordered the woman when she was at the door. Kushi, who had been pinching herself and wincing at the pain but delighting at the thought that it wasn't a dream, looked up and rushed to the woman's side, "Yes, my lady?" Kushi bowed.

"You shall do everything I say and be at my side every moment of my stay until I give you leave. Is that fine?" Lady Lavanya looked at her with a leadenly light in her eyes.

"Yes, my lady," said Kushi, still bowed.

"Then as your first duty," said Lady Lavanya, handing her the umbrella, "You shall carry my umbrella with you the entire time of my stay and when I need it, you shall hold it open above my head for me."

"Yes, my lady, gladly," said Kushi, steeping beside her new mistress and opening the umbrella. The lady walked right under the shade of the umbrella and like a proud peacock who had just been given a polish for her feathers, she walked with her new-found handmaid towards the Industry's entrance.