Amongst weavers, some produced coarse cloth while others finer cloth. . The coarse cloth was bought by the poor and its demand fluctuated. . In times of bad harvests and famines, rural poor could not possibly buy the cloth. . But the rich could buy this finer cloth, when the poor starved. So famines did not affect the sale of Banarasi or Baluchari saris. . These weavers lived tough lives and worked for long durations. Very often, the entire family, including women and children had to work to survive.