By IANS
New Delhi : Making wigs, decorative bulbs, polo-balls, boats, shuttlecocks and jeans – one would not usually associate them with arts and crafts. But that is exactly what Payal Mohanka has done in her book "In The Shadows: Unknown Craftsmen of Bengal".
Released by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram here Tuesday evening, Mohanka's book is about the plight of the anonymous craftsmen who produce these objects.
Mohanka chronicles the story of six rural areas where these crafts survive despite odds. Published by Niyogi Books, "In The Shadows …" looks at the future of these craftsmen and their forms of art.
The author presents the problems of the craftsmen and brings out their grit and determination to keep their craft alive.
Mohanka takes the reader on a rare journey. "Ranjit Lal has been making polo balls for over two decades," she writes. "His workshop is a hut made of bamboo strips."
"The cacophony of thumping hammers rents the air as nail after nail is driven into wooden planks, painful labour pangs that will ultimately give birth to another boat … each time a polo ball-maker or a boat-maker dies, their craft moves a step closer to extinction."
The 108-page book is profusely illustrated with 62 photographs. Mohanka writes about how these crafts or products have given these otherwise obscure villages an identity – a quiet sense of pride even if the material gains are meagre.
The book aims at celebrating the spirit of enterprise among rural craftsmen.