[Assam] assam Digest, Vol 25, Issue 3

[ranenkumar goswami]

State potters facing bleak future
>From Kishore Talukdar
 PALASBARI, Aug 3 - Feeling the pinch of modernity
following a glut in cheap plastic substitutes, a steep
fall in demand and steadily increasing cost of
production, potters all over the State have in recent
times been pushed to the edge of survival. Devoid of
official patronage, the trade may soon become a thing
of the past. In Kamrup district for example,
Binandiram Kumar (65) of Gargara narrated the
community’s collective plight. “Backed by variety to
suit any taste or pocket, the factory-made durable
plastic or thermocol substitutes in the form of cups,
plates and other utensils have punched gaping holes in
our sales over the years”, disclosed Kumar. “With
easy-to-handle plastic items flooding the markets,
hardly anyone cares to purchase our traditional
earthenware, save for auspicious occasions like
religious festivals, marriages and the like”, he
added.

“On the production front, escalating cost of raw
material has pushed the selling price of our products
even higher despite decreasing demand”, he lamented.
“Crippled by low revenue intake following sluggish
sales, we barely manage to keep body and soul together
these days”, he admitted.

Though customers in general are aware about the
detrimental effects of using recycled plastic material
for serving food, besides its long-term impact on the
ecology, convenience, easy availability and
competitiveness have spawned ever-increasing demand,
he justified.

Hira community womenn normally make products like
dabar and patcharu after pounding the malleable
earthen utensil into the required shape with a wooden
club. Opening up before this newspaper, Sabita and
Sunati, both Hiras, confided that their sales today
were mostly confined to the tribal population. “They
purchase our wide-mouthed earthen utensils for brewing
country liquor”.

While the Hiras use black clay mixed with sand, the
Kumhars use red clay in their wheels for moulding
pottery. The earthenware is sun-baked for five days,
dyed and finally fired. The fuel used for firing
includes paddy husk and cowdung cakes, or paddy straw
and firewood.

Voicing apprehension over the Government’s nonchalant
attitude towards their predicament, potters of the
Hira and Kumhar communities felt their days were
numbered.

As their brethren at Sikarhati, Dhopguri, Dhantola,
Rajapukhuri, Nahira and Bongana struggle to keep their
home fires burning, a steady declinee in their regular
pickings may finally bring the potters wheel to an
abrupt stop.
 
  
 
 


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