Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | NXg | Friday Review | Cinema Plus | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

Photos: M. Karunakaran.

Colourful: Scroll paintings from Midnapur and (below) Yogendra Singh with his‘airborne’ figurines and other toys.

No wonder Yogendra Singh from Varanasi was quite proud of his creations at the Dastkari Crafts Bazaar held at Kalakshetra recently. The fair was held by the Dastkari Haat Samiti and the Kalakshetra Foundation.

The holy city which has an ancient tradition of toy making is among the foremost producers of wooden toys in the country. Yogendra Singh also makes colourful mirror frames with small, stylised, figures of birds and animals that can be rotated in various slots, wooden tops that spin smoothly, horses and cows that move their heads and tails, and sets consisting of animals and birds that are an environmentalist’s delight. He cannot stop exclaiming how well his craft items have sold in Chennai. “I also make wooden bangles. In fact customers send me sample threads from saris that make up their trousseau and I design bangles to match their garments,” he says. “My father Godavari Singh plays an active role in promoting toys for the export market. He is a State awardee in toy making and takes classes for aspirants. There are 1,000 artisan members in our cooperative society, the Rajiv Gandhi Swayan Sahayata Samiti, and I’m the president.”

Toy makers in Varanasi are very much affected by the problem of obtaining suitable wood for their work. Traditionally, the toys were fashioned out of “Koraiyya” wood but owing to conservation measures, the Forest Department imposed a ban on this. “In Chennapatna, a centre of toy making near Mysore, the Government helps the craftsmen obtain wood of good quality,” Yogendra Singh points out. But he soon cheers up to tell you that the work displayed by the Government of Uttar Pradesh won the third prize in the Republic Day Tableau. “I did the wood work and designed it as well. I also make toys in bigger sizes — up to 24 inches. The prices range from Rs. 60 to Rs. 3,000 depending on the size. Hanuman is a favourite.” He is grateful to the Dastkari Haat Samiti for its support. “We are four brothers who are involved in this business.” Do the women of the family help? Chauvinism surfaces. “They help the men after finishing the household work. Let them first take care of themselves,” he guffaws.

But why is Krishna seated on a peacock? I reserve this for my parting shot. “These are handicrafts and this is an expression of creativity,” he replies, getting the better of me. Talk of artistic licence!

“In the past, there was neither television nor cinema and we were the main entertainers. When a wedding was held in the village, we would be called in to narrate stories during the baraat,” boasts Bapi Chitrakar, a practitioner of the Pat tradition of Midnapur in West Bengal, at the same fair. The Pat is a colourful and creative form of folk art which has now gained international recognition. “Our family has been engaged in this craft for 15 generations,” he says while his aunt Jabuna beams at me while working on a scroll. “We have a wide repertoire that includes the story of Savitri Satyavan, Nag Devi, Radha Krishna, Kamale Kamini and Pir pata (lives of saints). “We have even done a scroll painting on the tsunami for Tara publishing,” he adds proudly. “And the map of the West Bengal crafts put up as an installation at this Dastkari Crafts Bazaar has been painted by my brother Bahadur Chitrakar and I.”

The Patuas or Chitrakars are traditional scroll painters of West Bengal. They travel from village to village recounting their stories in the form of songs, unfurling the scroll in sequential narration. Stories from the epics and the puranas as well as folk tales spring to life on the dried fabric , in glorious colours derived from stones, flowers, fruits, seeds and leaves. In fact, the word Pat is derived from the Sanskrit “Pata” (cloth).

The ancient art of Pat painting is said to have reached its height during the Buddhist period. Aunt Jabuna has laughing eyes and exudes a sense of joie de vivre. She unfurls a scroll which has a novel depiction of the big fish eating the small. “The big fish was not called to the wedding and so he ate up all the small fish,” Jabuna concludes with a flourish. There is a contemporary depiction too of the spread of HIV AIDS using the snake imagery though such adorable looking snakes will be hard to find.

“This one is about the marriage of birds,” her nephew chimes in. “Why birds?” I ask. “Everyone gets married — so why not birds?” is the irreverent reply. “These are the Kalighat Pats,” says Jabuna showing you one of a woman reflectively smoking her hookah. During the British days, when the Chitrakars faced hard times they moved to the Kalighat area in Calcutta. The paintings they executed were imbued with contemporary elements and were highly creative. They were much in demand. “See these two ullus (owls). They are sold,” she says. Jabuna also shows me Pats in “the style of Jamini Roy’s paintings.” She then resumes her singing all the while unrolling her scroll.

“And the tiger devoured the man…” she sings out gaily unconcerned about the poor man’s grisly fate while narrating the story of the Raja and Rani. But thank god, it all ends on a happy note with a salaam to Hindus and a salaam to Muslims.

Jabuna and her nephew are Muslim craftspeople who sing of Hindu deities. The Patuas converted to Islam years ago but live on the fringes of society with neither community willing to own them. But through their work they proclaim that secularism is alive and well in the crafts world.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail