Those vivid eyes gazing and cautious hands moving relentlessly in synchronization on the wheel as a mass of clay gets transformed to a pot and one who sees it happen sings praise for the mesmerizing skills, these people who are known to be potters, possess. Pottery being an age old prominent handicraft in India, its roots here can be traced back to the earliest times of civilization. It has sustained for eons and is a massive employment creator in both rural and urban areas.
Man should be known for its work, the virtue and ability one puts in its work but this proclamation doesn’t always hold in some scenarios. In a developing country like ours which has shown unprecedented growth in almost all major sectors we are still struggling to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor and everyone doesn’t seem to share the piece of cake.
One such left out community in India is that of potters. Pottery is an art of making different objects by carefully molding clay. The sheer hard work they put and the skills through which they design those very pots are magnificent. But their fate seems to be sailing in choppy waters as most of the industries are shut and most of the craftsmen are either unemployed or paid too little. It feels perplexing to see their plight today as they used to be a major revenue generator in the country and as the modernization of the nation began they started losing their sheen.
As the modern ways of plastic made crafts forayed into our household people living in urban areas started relying on them and the traditional handicrafts lost their luster. People don’t recognize the haphazard of these artificial products all they care is about affluence. Government has tried to revive the industry by offering incentives for the handicrafts industries to avert their death and also by conducting fairs and seminars where they can showcase their skilled labor but the scenario doesn’t seem to have improved.
It’s appalling to see that they don’t get the same recognition, respect and remuneration as one should get after putting so much effort into their work.