The study of leisure time has interested many theorists. Leisure time is argued as free time. From an economic perspective leisure time is a rare commodity and only a certain class of people have a luxury to consume it. The idea of leisure is associated with leisure goods. There is a culture of leisure. It includes watching opera performances, visiting tourist spots, playing games, watching movies, etc. All the said activities require time that is leisure time. There is also a view of the loss of leisure time in modern times. These theoretical views are from a context of affordability of leisure time by the rich from the consumption perspective. There is hardly any study on the influence of leisure time on the subaltern from the production perspective.
In this study, I find leisure time is a rare commodity and its non-availability is an impedance to the subaltern’s movement up in the value chain and restricts their participation in the market. The working class work for longer hours on all the days of the week. They are too tired to avail leisure time.
This finding of this study is based on the life history study of one family of agate stone polishers of Khambhat, Gujarat. The study was conducted over a period of seven years. Ramesh Bhai is the head of the family. His wife also helps him. For the last 15 years Ramesh Bhai has been polishing agate stone in Khambhat, Gujarat. Initially, he was polishing stones as a daily wage worker for the traders. Then, he started polishing stones on a piece rate basis. Finally, he ventured into production and directly sold polished stone to the retailers/customers.
This study explains the process of movement on the value chain of polished stones and participation in the market.
