English artisans resisted the widespread adoption of mechanisation at the turn of the nineteenth century out of concern that they would be rendered obsolete. This event is known as the Luddite uprising. Since then, handicrafts like weaving have been threatened by the rise of the machine age. Every Bengali child born in the 20th century has memorised Rabindranath Tagore's folk-rhyme "The house of the weaver, turned into the house of frogs; Eating, singing happily ever, The tadpoles of croaking frogs," which eloquently depicts the plight of the handloom weavers (Tanti in Bengali). The song describes how handlooms became extinct with the invention of the power loom. The weavers had given up their jobs. Due of the lack of handloom, their workplace has turned into a frog breeding ground. ...
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