4. The Bangles Making Process.
The serial bangle making process is very complex. There are fourteen production posts for the part made in the factory. The main craft is the wiring, performed by a worker called tarvala, who is usually paid more than double the other skilled workers. The wire is rolled on an axis called belen into a helicoidal spire that is then cut into rings, that are themselves completed outside the factory.
All the operations before the wiring aim at preparing the glass to be stretched into a wire, and all the operation afterwards are considered as a completion of the bangles, hence the wiring is the key stage of the processt. When the industry started, this stage was mastered only by the Sheshgarh.
Nowadays, the skills have trickled down to other communities, but Sheeshgarhs are still dominant as tarwalas today. After leaving the factory, the bangles are completed and joined in the working-class neighbourhood's houses (jalai and julai) and then decorated in workshops spread out in the Old Town.
