Waiting for revellers to light their diyas...

Secunderabad: Concealed among colourful shops and bustling life at Monda Market is Kundala Bazaar, a narrow haven for the helpless lives of pottery selling families. Several families here are involved in the craft of readying traditional earthen Diwali lamps, after transporting them from villages in and around Mahbubnagar, Tandur, Mehdipatnam, Shamirpet and L B Nagar, for the festival. The earthen lamps, also calleddiyas,are painted and packed in bulk here, for the shops in the city. The shopsthen sell them at a greater price thus, reducing the margin of profits for potters, who actually prepare the furnished product.

Srinivas, whose family had been in this business for almost 50 years, toldThe Hans India that his mother used to mould the lamps and sell them but, with encroachment of spaces, insufficient potter’s clay in the city limits and no aid for procuring pottery-making equipment led their community to be dependent on village potters. “My mother, brother, two aunts and I help my father to finish the orders which we get from the shopkeepers. Since, not many know about us and we do not own shops, customers do not buy directly from us. So, we lose out on our profits”, quotes Gauthami, Srinivas’s daughter, while painting a lamp with a homemade stick brush.

Modernisation of time has changed the likes of people, the customernow demands for designer lamps and products with finer finishes which is forcing the community to rely on potters based in Kolkata and Gujarat, which is affecting the local pottery business. Srinivas said, “Earlier the consumers used simple diyas from potters here but, with the changing market trends and competition from other States, we are forced to buy finished lamps from other States to sustain our livelihood.” Moreover, due to the recent rains, potters within the State couldnot produce enough earthen lamps leaving the community with no option but to order for larger material from the Northern States of the country at higher costs.

The implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) has also affected their income levels. Many potters expressed that due to the implementation of GST, their business got badly affected as transportation and packaging costs sky-rocketed.Apart from that, the damage caused to the product while transportation, also dents their pockets adding to their misery.

With no recognised association and the failure of the State government in lifting the potter community, many families work as domestic helps and industrial workers to both two ends meet.

The potter community at the market manages without any provision of electricity sources and sewerage systems, the potter families also suffer from the emanating smell of leftovers thrown by the butcher shops in the area.

It is unfortunate that those who help us lighten our houses are surrounded by the dark clouds of misery and poverty with none to show them a light of hope.

By: Maitreyi Tadepalli