PUNE, Jun 14 (IPS) – Sawantwadi in Maharashtra, on the western coast of India, bordering Goa, has at all times been recognized for its picket toys. A picturesque city amid hills and plush greenery, Sawantwadi retains an old-world appeal to at the present time. The regal Sawantwadi Palace holds satisfaction of place, with schools, faculties, and temples cloistered across the periphery of the lake, which was as soon as an extension of the royal grounds. Within the centre of the city is the Ubha Bazaar, or Hanging Market, which homes rows of outlets promoting the enduring picket toys which are an indicator of Sawantwadi.
The picket toys of Sawantwadi are a legacy that the earlier rulers nurtured, and so they mirror the spirit of the world. Generations of kids in Maharashtra and Goa have grown up taking part in with the life-like depictions of fruits, individuals, and the pull-along toys that have been a mandatory a part of rising up. However immediately, these painstakingly carved, hand-made toys manufactured from Pongamia and mango wooden are struggling for survival. The once-bustling hilltop market in downtown Sawantwadi, generally known as Ubha Bazaar (Hanging Market), is now a ghost of what it as soon as was. The artisan households who manufactured and bought these toys from their workshops-cum-homes are actually lowered to a handful.
So, what triggered the busy fingers of those artisans to fall silent?
By the appears of it, a number of elements are accountable.
Backgrounder
Not like a budget machine-made toys that flood the market immediately, toys are a standard craft in India, commanding a hoary lineage from the period of the Indus Valley civilization. Like many different facilities in India, Sawantwadi at all times boasted gifted artisans able to painstakingly respiration life into wooden and carving out an array of life-like figures impressed by on a regular basis life.
Over the a long time, the life-like depiction of vegetables and fruit was at all times been a specialty of Sawantwadi craftsmen. In fact, there have been different toys too, for each age group of kids: pull-along toys for toddlers, kitchen units for little ladies, bullock carts and different automobiles for greater kids, in addition to spoons, cutters, and ladles used within the kitchen. What at all times made these toys stand out was the environment-friendly strategies and colours that have been used to provide them.
Toy-making in Sawantwadi had its origins within the arrival of Telangana Brahmins within the seventeenth century, who visited the dominion to participate in spiritual debates with the then ruler, Khem Sawant II, who was extraordinarily well-versed in Hindu spiritual scriptures and philosophy. The Chitrali artisans who arrived with the Brahmins introduced the craft of toy-making and ganjifa (taking part in playing cards) to Sawantwadi.
Ideally suited to the greenery and scenic panorama of Sawantwadi, toy-making right here made use of Pongamia and mango wooden, which thrived within the thick forests right here. The wooden used for the toys could be collected in the summertime and, after being washed and dried, omitted to get totally soaked throughout your entire monsoon.
After thorough drying, they’d be carved as per the specified form. As soon as the toys have been carved out, they’d be coated with 5 layers of earth and left apart for a sure time period. The lathe would then be used on this stage to impart the specified form and end. They’d be painted with a powdery combination manufactured from tamarind and different seeds as soon as dusted off and smoothed with sandpaper.
After making use of a number of coats of paint, a coat of lacquer and pure gum would add the ending touches. To at the present time, the lacquer utilized in Sawantwadi toys is their particular characteristic. It’s sturdy and by no means fades or chips away, regardless of how roughly the toys are used.
When toy-making was on the verge of fading out at one time limit, the native royal household gave it an impetus within the early Seventies. Primarily accountable for this shot within the arm have been the Queen, Maharani Satvashila Devi and her husband, the reigning king, Rajesaheb Khem Sawant VI, Lt Colonel Shivram Sawant Bhonsale. The reigning royal household additionally arrange a workshop to make hand-painted ganjifa playing cards on the palace, which is practical to at the present time.
Difficulties in Procuring Inputs
Traditionally, Sawantwadi was a vassal state of the mighty Maratha empire. When the British defeated the Marathas, Sawantwadi continued to exist as a small principality with a benign ruler in the course of the British Raj. The erstwhile British Resident’s house in downtown Sawantwadi, at a stone’s throw from the Palace, testifies to these bygone days. The early years of the 20th century noticed Sawantwadi thrive in issues of training and tradition, with the rulers additionally making efforts to nurture conventional crafts and artisans.
In current instances, nonetheless, deforestation has made it troublesome to get ample provides of pangara (Pongamia) wooden, whereas mango will not be appropriate for merchandise that want the lathe machine. Artisans have now turned to Acacia, Shivan (Gmelina Arborea) and Glyricidea, compromising on the standard of the toys. Glyricidea has significantly emerged as a favourite, however its being environmentally unsound and inflicting rats to overrun properties.
Lack of expert artisans
The painstaking nature of the job, the difficulties in procuring wooden and different inputs, and an unsure market that can’t assure earnings in line with the efforts put in have resulted in lots of expert artisans shifting out of the business and choosing employment elsewhere. Industrialization within the neighboring districts has additionally been a giant draw, whereas authorities initiatives to coach younger artisans in wooden carving have been lackadaisical at greatest.
Only a few can carve wooden now, in contrast to previously. So, as a substitute of carving out a toy, the prevailing pattern is to replenish sawdust into prepared moulds. This additionally helps preserve prices low and isn’t labour-intensive. Shashikant Rane, one of many only a few remaining grasp craftsmen in Sawantwadi, who the federal government approached about opening a Hastkala (handicrafts) Kendra (centre), tells me, “I entered the career within the early Sixties, because of my father, who had obtained particular coaching from Abha Gawde, a well known grasp within the craft. Conventional toy-making requires an excessive amount of persistence, beginning with the procurement of the proper wooden. You procure the wooden in Might however can’t work on it till a number of months later. In these instances of fast turnarounds and large earnings, few are keen to place within the effort,” he factors out.
Rane has been coaching 30 children within the craft yearly at his modest workshop-cum-home and is a a lot sought-after craftsman for distinguished tasks throughout India. Referring to the federal government’s lackadaisical method to coaching artisans, Rane tells me, “The Minister-In-Cost had recognized the venue for establishing the Hastkala Kendra and spoken to me about his imaginative and prescient at size. However it’s over a yr now, and the plan nonetheless awaits finalization.”
Unfair Competitors and Dwindling Demand
There are different elements, too. Low-cost Chinese language machine-made toys have additionally made customers transfer away from these stunning, hand-carved toys, which, owing to rising enter prices, promote at greater charges. One additionally perceives a change in style. P D Kanekar and Firm, a distinguished vendor of toys in Sawantwadi, has moved to fabricate non-traditional toys in recent times. Ankita Kanekar, from the Kanekar household, tells me, “Pangara (Pongamia) wooden was at all times used to make life-like vegetables and fruit previously. However nobody is occupied with taking part in with these now, in contrast to the earlier era. Pangara bushes are solely obtainable in a number of villages now. Apart from, a single set takes round one and a half months to be made. The work is painstaking and exacting, and the return could be very little. There are only a few good artisans practising the commerce.”
She additionally blames the present transport infrastructure for dwindling gross sales. “Earlier, the street hyperlinks from Mumbai and Pune handed via Sawantwadi. However the highways now skirt our city.”
Altering tastes are evident when one browses via the retailers immediately. Imitations of machine-made toys maintain satisfaction of place as in comparison with the creative depictions of musicians, vegetable -sellers, or fishermen in conventional apparel. It’s robust to identify a bunch of bananas or betelnuts both.
Lack of presidency assist is one other main issue.
The lively assist of the ruling royal household had bolstered the toy business within the earlier century. This sort of assist is now not forthcoming. The dearth of a robust toymakers’ cooperative or guild can also be partly guilty. “There isn’t any unity among the many numerous individuals within the commerce to barter in a single voice with the authorities and demand ensures or protecting subsidies,” rues a distinguished toymaker, requesting anonymity.
Consequently, Sawantwadi toys have been devoid of geographic identification (GI) till now.
Mild on the Finish of a Tunnel
As I write this, toymakers are jubilant a couple of GI tag having been granted to Sawantwadi picket toys on March 30, 2024. This opens up a brand new vista for them. Toymakers like PD Kanekar have already taken to promoting their toys on-line. “ We began promoting on-line in the course of the pandemic when the whole lot shut down,” Ankita Kanekar tells me. The Kanekars promote via the DirectCreate platform to patrons throughout India. In any other case, gross sales are made to wholesalers based mostly in Goa, who, in flip, promote to these touring to India. It is because “worldwide courier providers will not be but developed from Sawantwadi. ”
Even so, with Goa’s newly-opened MOPA airport simply 15–16 km away, worldwide vacationers usually come right down to Sawantwadi to purchase these iconic toys.
One may properly say that the GI tag and the inclusivity it bestows on these stunning handcrafted toys are starting. Nevertheless, much more must be executed if these toys are to seize the eye of a worldwide market. Bettering the courier providers in addition to authorities subsidies to the makers may go a great distance right here.
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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service