Craftsmen in Kolkata Prepare for Durga Puja

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Idol makers don't worship their profession any more

>From the Financial Express, India

October 2, 2005

 

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http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=104306

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More than 4,000 artists and craftsmen work day and

night in Kumartuli, Kolkata,

 

By Sunil Mukhopadhyay

 

THE dingy studios on both sides of the narrow lanes

of Kumartuli, the main clay idol-making centre of

Kolkata on the eastern bank of the Hooghly (or the

Ganga), are now busy. Around 400 artists and their

3,500-plus master craftsmen and helpers are now

working day and night to make idols of goddess

Durga. Durga Puja is scheduled to start on October 9,

on the day of Maha Shashthi.

 

After all, it is their main season of earning. If they fail

to complete the idols and sell them in time, they won't

be able to repay the loans taken from banks or

moneylenders, make profits and save a part for

maintaining their families for the whole year.

 

Says Babu Pal, an artist and joint secretary of

Kumartuli Mritshilpa Sanaskrity Samity (KMSS),

"The cost of raw materials is going up every year. But

we are not getting the price accordingly." The

organisers are ready to spend more on decorations and

lightings, but not on idols, they complain.

 

Around 2,500 idols of Durga, 8,000 of Kali and 16,000

of Saraswati are made every year there. And the price

of Durga idols varies from Rs 5,000 to Rs 1 lakh,

depending on the work.

 

Although the prices of clay and wood do not vary

much, the prices of other materials do. Particularly the

price of hay fluctuates considerably and reaches the

peak during monsoon. So do the daily wages of a

master craftsman, which vary from Rs 500 to Rs 800 a

day during the season (July- November), but it falls to

Rs 200 during off season. Hence, the better-off artists,

who do not need to take loans from banks and can

invest from their own pockets, start their work from

April.

 

As the price of hay remains less and wages low then,

these artists can earn much more profit than those who

start their work late as they have to borrow at the last

moment in order to reduce the interest cost.

 

Many artists have regular customers who place orders

every year and hence the return on investment is

ensured. Says Naba Pal, son of renowned clay artist

Kartik Pal, "We make more than 20 idols of Devi

Durga a year and all are based on orders placed by

organisers well ahead of time."

 

But all are not that lucky. Even if they have some fixed

customers, earnings from them are not enough to meet

their ends meet. So they often have to take risks and

make more idols for floating customers.

 

If an artist and his team, mostly comprising family

members and some hired ones mainly coming from

Nadia district of the state, can make 10-12 idols and

manage to sell all of them, then they are lucky, as they

can earn profits.

 

"But if some of the idols remain unsold, we have to

incur losses. We are then ruined," says Papai Pal,

another artist. "We have to repay the loan with interest

to the bank in time. And to meet the shortfall, we often

have to take loans from moneylenders. After all, we do

not have the capital of our own to compensate for the

losses," he explains. And if the losses continue for a

couple of year or more, they are caught in a debt trap.

 

How much business is done by the clay idol makers of

Kumartuli annually? The KMSS joint secretary

declines to divulge the figure. He offers a hint, though.

"Out of our 300-plus membership, we stand guarantor

for around 140 members for taking around Rs 1.5 crore

loan annually from two banks — the State Bank of

India and the United Bank of India. Others do not take

loans. So, you can guess how much business we do

every year."

 

In general, families of the artists engaged in idol

making for generations often find it very difficult to

lead even a modest life. So, many of the artists feel that

they will not let their next generation engage in the

same profession. "I shall not ask my son to join this

profession. Rather I would have him work somewhere

else," says Raju Pal. "What is the attraction here?

What do we get from this profession?" he asks in

frustration and then replies, "Only poverty. Of course,

we sometimes get awards."

 

His neighbour Mahadeb Pal joins him, "Do awards

make any sense to me when I cannot provide good

food, clothing and education to my family members?"

 

Says Gaur Chandra Pal, "I did not bring any of my

three sons to this profession. Two of them are

engineers and the third one, a commerce graduate,

helps me in marketing my products."

 

However, he has something to boast, "We are

contributing in carrying forward our cultural tradition.

I love to go to a pandal where idols made by me are

being worshipped. I try to listen to the comments made

by visitors. If they appreciate my work, I feel happy."

 

There is a silver lining, too. Gaur Babu's son Prodyot

is trying to leverage information technology for

marketing his father's creations. He has already sold

seven idols abroad. This year he has tied up for three

idols of Durga via e-mail, one for San Francisco in the

US, one for New Zealand and the third one for

Australia at prices Rs 1.6 lakh, Rs 60,000 and Rs

14,000 respectively. He also arranges for packaging

and sending the idols so that the customers need not

worry about the delivery. "I'm ready to render my

expertise to all the artists of Kumartuli. They can use

my computer to show their products to the puja

orgasnisers abroad. Let us offer competitive bidding

prices to them so that we can survive and they become

Kumartuli's regular customers," says Prodyot.

 

Meanwhile, the Kolkata Metropolitan Development

Authority (KMDA) has prepared a Rs 21-crore project

to create a better working environment at Kumartuli.

This project will be implemented under the National

Urban Renewal Mission programme to be launched by

the Centre shortly. Under this programme, a part of the

project cost will be born by the Centre, a part by the

state and the remaining portion by the owners of the

studios. The plan includes widening of roads at

Kumartuli and making pucca studios for the artists. For

these, the owners have to hand over 40% of the studio

land to KMDA. However, the loss of space would be

well compensated as the new studios will be two-

storeyed ones. West Bengal's urban development and

municipal affairs minister Ashok Bhattacharjee has

given an assurance that the project will be completed

in a couple years.