Prayagraj potters hope for more lights, happiness in their lives this Diwali

PRAYAGRAJ: This festival of lights, potters at Kumhaar colonies in different parts of the city are busy kneading and mixing clay to shape designer diyas and earthen kandeels and pots with hope this Diwali will bring more lights in their families.
After a gap of two years, every potter’s wheel is working overtime to cope up with the demand as potters are in hurry to dispatch the furnished designer diyas and specially-shaped earthen pots to markets ahead of the festival. Both men and women are not in mood to stop for a while and want to deliver orders at the earliest.
Shankar, a potter at Rasoolabad, who has been living in the colony for three decades, is also busy in placing diyas of various shapes in the sunlight. He says it’s a tradition for him and his family before Diwali to begin working on ‘diya’ making.
“First, we mix and grind mud, sieve it, make it compact and then knead it with bare hands at the wheel, then it is dried and baked,” said Shankar. “This fetches us almost nothing. For 1,000 small diyas, a buyer pays us only Rs 550-650 . But in the market, the same diya is sold on higher rates,” he added.
However, crafting large number of diyas and other earthen pots will help them to earn handsome amount, he admits. Many pottersclaim that their hard work and art should be recognised. “We make small profits,” says another potter, adding that potters like him make diyas day and night for almost a month during festive season and treat each one like a child. Lakhs of diyas are being shaped and sold every Diwali. They, however, admitted that demand for earthen diyas has gone up for the past two to three years and business community has booked their orders in advance. The demand for traditional diyas, being a local product, has gone up in the markets. They also claimed that the art has passed through generations, but they are not sure if their next generation would continue it further ? Families are also engaged to decorate earthen pots with embroidered laces and gota or bright attractive colours.
Senior corporator Mukund Tiwari said, “This year, smiles writlarge on the faces of potters as they received good orders from traders compared to past two years.”