One of those days, when I did not peek into Twitter, given the fact that the driver has been absconding for a couple of days and I saw our sometimes negative B50 ask a relevant question to spark of a debate – “Any of you guys work in an industry whose future is bleak? Actually bleak, not your opinion. Example: Tailors after readymade garments came”

And, there were a flurry of answers – Media, IT etc – check his TL to get more details and answers. This reminded me immediately of an brief exchange I had on twitter with Salil Kapoor now with Dish TV and he had expressed surprise that I still remember. Read about it here

This was debated briefly with B50 and Apoorva but here goes making it more specific, touching a couple of industries that were up for debate.

Tailors & Masters

Once these were the norm, ruled and commanded a premium, according to B50 they are extinct because of ready made clothes, that are made on machines. My answer to this

• Factories still need machinist, cutters, masters for the initial set up, changes.
• The second generation of these Tailors have grown, don’t want to be tailors
• Their shops – some owned have fetched them substantial amounts – given the fact that in metros they were immigrants mostly
• Even in Mumbai, beyond Andheri, there are still lot of them around
• The Tier 2 & 3 still find comfort in getting clothes stitched.
• The entire Apparel industry which is growing by leaps & bounds require them, because a lot of it is still unorganized.
• Brands that are completely automated are very few.
• The enterprising ones turned designer and expanded – AND, JADE BLUE, Dinbandhu etc.

And so, the industry has not died, it has evolved. In fact, they have derisked themselves.

Media

I think, a correction is due, however India is still at least a decade away from, print being extinct but content & relevance is fast gaining traction and that is how it should be.

There can be a lot of other Industries, with the FDI haters providing impetuous. However, I believe Textile became extinct, more so from the fact that it became a Dinosaur, that did not want to move with the times.

And therein lies your answer, Our parents retired at 58-65 from one organization/industry, we look at multiple organization/industries & our kids have many more opportunities, hence continue to learn, upskill & evolve.