When Kinjal, our Mandala art person, called us last week we wondered what she was talking about. There was a strange kind of urgency in her voice. She said, “Masi, display my work later on. Put Hrutvi’s work first. She lives in Pandharpur and is in her final year of college. She has recently lost her father to the Corona Virus. And her art has become her family’s major source of income now. Let’s promote her to the best of our ability. She is inherently talented. She deserves all the attention we can give her.”
We discussed the matter between ourselves. We had organized everything for several weeks well in advance. Rearranging the whole schedule would require time. But that was still manageable. And somehow we could not shake off the guilt that was gnawing at us. Pramila, had been patiently waiting for her turn for several months now. And if we had to showcase Hrutvi’s work on a priority basis, it meant postponing Pramila’s by several more weeks.
So we called Pramila. We were touched by her directness. Pramila said, “Sawaal hi nahee utha. None of us had a platform to showcase our work until you contacted us. I did not even know it was my turn next until you called me. And the least I can do for this deserving girl Hrutvi is to wait for my number. No. No. Anyway, my entire family was down with Carona. Yes, we are all out of quarantine now. And I cannot continue with my drawing classes because of the lockdown. Please go ahead without feeling guilty. Let’s help her to the best of our ability.”
We felt much better after hearing Pramila’s words. And spoke to Hrutvi. The first thing that struck us – even over the phone – was her soft, clear and chirpy voice. She simply sounded like a happy person. She said, “Yes, we created a Facebook page with my mother’s name in it. It is called – Smita Creates. No, I don’t want to create a separate page for myself. Yes, I’ll put up a few pictures of my handiwork over Facebook before Monday. We will put up our artwork there regularly if you recommend that.
I have been working on this craft for the past five years. My mother used to work on glass painting earlier. No. No. I am not the only one who works on this craft. My grandmother, mother, sister and I work on it. We all work on one aspect of the craft and then the next person takes over. It is quicker and better that way.
Last year, I had a large order from a shopping mall. Yes, yes – there are two-three malls in Pandharpur too. They wanted lots of floating candles to decorate their mall during Diwali.
Our floral jewellery sells very well especially during festivals like Teej and Diwali. Janmashtami is the main festival in Pandharpur. We decorate our deity on this auspicious day. We invite everyone to our home at that time. We display lots of our handiwork and people buy whatever they like. So far, every person that has seen our craft has bought something or the other.
That’s absolutely right. We do take orders for decorating pooja spaces in other people’s homes too on occasions like Janmashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi and Diwali. People who prefer to do their own decoration buy our flowers in bulk. They then decorate Krishna’s Palna or their Hindolas and Phool Mandalis too.
We create new things often. We watch videos on YouTube for innovative ideas. Of course, I will courier things properly to people who live in other cities too. That will not be a problem unless we experience another total lockdown.
Earlier, I used to source my material from Jalna. But now I buy it from Pandharpur itself. We used to decorate Arti thalis with a wooden base earlier. But people found it heavy. So now we decorate Arti thalis made out of plastic. Usually, we use acrylic, microwire and plastic to craft our handiwork.
Yes, it is fine if you mention a price range instead of a price for our articles. And yes, you can share my contact number with your family and friends too over WhatsApp. I understand that you don’t want to put up such details over the internet.
Also, I wanted to ask you one more thing. I also make greeting cards. I did not share the pictures with you earlier because I felt I was sending you too many pictures. Will it be possible for you to display that? Okay, I will send those pictures too. Thank you. Jai Shree Krishna.”
Ah, yes, like we mentioned earlier, both of us often feel we are absolute idiots. We wonder what we are doing and what keeps pushing us to continue with our crazy endeavour. But sometimes, when we talk to people like Kinjal and Pramila and Ramya and Visalakshi and Drishya and Gayatri and Meera and Manishaji and Jyothiji and Banu and Foram and Krupali and Stephen– we feel we are doing something worthwhile. And often that seems like a good enough reason to continue….