"Well Crafted Things Inspire Me, Whether
Its Pottery or Art or Music"
~Rodney Yee
Hidden among the by-lanes of Uttamnagar, is a small village where the traditional craft of pottery is still alive. The village came into being after the potters from the Alwar district of Rajasthan and a few from Haryana relocated to one corner of the city. It is India’s largest Kumhar gram(potters colony), home to 400+ families. Residing there for so many years it has become a wholesale market of earthen materials. If one traverses through the alley of this village, they can find a man making pots while women polishing them to make them much better. Now the mud huts are replaced with 2-story buildings. The kilns which used to be in front of the houses are now shifted to the terrace while the front is used to sell the items they make.
Kasturi Devi (68) who lives with her son Rajesh is making pots for more than 50 years. She’s been in this colony since 1936. From diyas to uralis (vessel) she’s been selling all these at wholesale rate. She used to make mud items before but now her son won’t allow her to do. She now handles the customer. They have diyas ranging from Rs 9 to Rs 20 while pots of Rs 100. She says many retailers come here to buy their items in bulk. Some of them have their own go-down where they store items that are unsold during the season.
When people think of pottery, the picture that comes into our mind is of a man behind the wheel giving shape to the mud, but it was much more than that. The process starts with refining the mud that usually comes in mini trucks from Haryana. Once the mud is finely powered, they are turned into a mold which eventually is placed on the wheel. The process does not end here. The newly made items are baked in the kilns and later dried under the sun. The color and the designs are later painted on it, to give it a vibrant look.
Other than making mud items, the colony is also famous for its beautifully decorated pots. Few of the stores not only design but repairs minor damages to the items. Moni handicrafts are owned by Naresh who designs the pots and other earthen utensils and sells them all over India. The entire family deals exclusively in decorated earthenware and has been working for more than 40years. Similarly, there is Premvati who‘s been living in this colony as a tenant for 15 years doesn’t make any earthenware, but repair and sells water pots for Rs 200-250. Usually, she does it with cement and paint.
Despite being a peaceful place the government has put restrictions claiming that the smoke from the chimney is leading to air pollution. Inder Kumar a wholesale dhuni and kalash maker, who’s been living there for more than 15yrs says- Bhatta k dhua k kaaran police kaam karne me rok lagata hai. (For the smoke from the kiln, the police have asked them to stop working). Even having multiple such difficulties, pottery is like a status symbol for them.
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