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11/28/2005
Old Newspaper Dealership
In India people earn a living in a lot of surprising ways. In Pondicherry a few weeks ago we stumbled upon this used newspaper dealership. It had never occured to me that someone could support themselves by buying and selling old newspapers. From the scale it seems they buy and sell newspapers by the kilo. After I snapped the photos they waved me over and showed me the many letters from numerous tourists who had taken the same photo and then mailed them a copy. We still owe them a copy of these shots. When looking at the dealership I couldn't stop thinking about what horribe damage could be caused by a single stray spark. I hope none of these guys are smokers.
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Comments
This is paper recycling India style :) There was a time when there were no plastic bags and all your grocery was packed in bags made out of used newspapers. Hopefully we would come back a full circle since the plastic bags are such a nuisance.
Posted by: anon | 11/28/2005
Why do people buy the old newspapers? What are they used for?
Posted by: Iraina | 11/29/2005
To make paper bags - see post above. Some of if also goes to make paper pulp
Posted by: anon | 11/29/2005
I once heard a story about a blind guy whose brother saved every day's newspaper in case his brother got his sight back and wanted to read the papers he'd missed. And then one day the papers caught on fire and they both died.
- j
Posted by: josh glazer | 11/30/2005
that's a really touching story. thanks for sharing.
Posted by: mad max | 11/30/2005
Hi pal,
Selling read papers by the kilo is a very habitual practice followed since the days newspapers exist in India. Almost in every locality, there are these old newspapers and magazines shops. They buy old newspapers and magazines by the kilo. 10 Kgs of newspapers could fetch approximately a dollar. English newspapers and regional newspapers have various rates!!!
Moreover, some people buy old magazines second hand from these shops. Some even buy education related old books. So, it is a supplementary industry by itself. There are many more small scale opportunities (like this) for the poor through which they make their ends meet... This is India!
Cheers,
Venkat
Posted by: Venkat Ramanan | 11/30/2005
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