And They Model God

Ambling through the labyrinthine alleys of Saadatganj, I came to a place called Lakadmandi. I briefly question myself, is this really Lucknow? The rest of the city seems another world, light years away. Peeping inside the open doors I got a sneak peak of the practiced hands behind the intricately modeled clay idols of Ganesh Lakshmi we pray before, each Diwali since times immemorial.

Entire families are involved in this grueling task, an art endowed on the blessed, shall we say. But it is grueling indeed! Eight months each year, these generally unlettered people prepare the idols from black fine mud from pond-beds. “Ek namoona haanth se banta hai, phir usse saancha banaa ke baaki saare bante hain (We create one sample with hands then prepare a dye from which we cast all others),” explains young Mahesh. Patience is the truly the fruit of life for them.

Obtaining mud is no mean feet these days, having exhausted the nearby suitable plots of land. “We are compelled to get the mud from villages because new plots are beyond our means,” laments Raj Kumar. But it is probably the zeal and the urge to live that sets them going despite all odds. These unsung artists make do with the earnings from two months before Diwali when they vend their wares for the rest of the years.

I found that I was two months too late to actually see them work hands on. “Ab to aapko sab jagah rangai hi dekhne ko milegi (Now, you will only get to see the painting part everywhere),” explains Awadhrani, fussing over a Ganesh idol with a fine paint-brush in the scanty light of an oil-wick. Walking on, I realise how right she was. Every house hold was rushing with the final touches and packing, busy to the extent of replying to my questions in monosyllables.

These people see no impact of the Chinese made idols or the silver idols on their market. “Aadmi chaahe sone ki murti bhi khareed le par pooja to mitti ki hi hoti hai (One may even buy a gold idol but it is customary to pray before a clay idol),” opines Pawan Kumar Prajapati. Most of these people don’t even bother to set up an outlet anywhere. “Big retailers from Delhi, Bulanshahar, Katni, Gonda and Allahabad and many other places come to purchase our idols,” explains Kailash Kumar.

Some of these people also make idols of other deities and surprisingly, humans too, all they need is a photograph. The life size works range in thousands as against the small idols which sell in the neighbourhood of Rs 30 per pair. Some of them like Prajapati get contracts from temples after the Diwali rush is over, but all are not as lucky as him. For at most they either make clay toys which no longer sell as well or end up working as daily wage labourers. For the latter, life merely drags on.