Even as the rest of the city gears up for a spell of festivities, a community of over 500 potter families in Dharavi’s Kumbharwada is working round the clock to light up our homes
Every alley in Dharavi’s Kumbharwada (or potter ville, if you must) is filled with thick smoke. Thin pathways, dotted with broken pieces of earthenware have men and women finishing off possibly the last batch of diyas. The men are busy carving the little lamps while the women are painting them. A cursory glimpse and you know that you’ve walked in at the busiest time of the year. While some asked us to run along, many others indulged our queries about the profession that has defined their identity for generations.
“I make diyas throughout the year, it’s the only art I know. I have managed to make about one lakh diyas this year and my family members helped me in the process,” says 48-year-old Hasmukh Bhai. Since family and business mix for the kumbhar community, they have employed ways to make it a smooth process. “We decide the price of the lamps mutually within the community because we are a small-knit group and do not want any arguments over money,” he shares.
Brick kilns outside each house burn fiercely, producing a many lamps at one go. With over 50,000 diyas churned out of her kiln this Diwali, Ratanben from Gujarat’s Una district is all smiles when she talks about her work. “We have released our stock for Diwali this year and our next lot will be sent to wholesalers who will then paint and sell these them. We make about Rs 500 per four hundred pieces,” she says.
Another resident, Amratben shares her friend’s passion for lighting up homes. Her wrinkled fingers tactfully paint each earthen lamp with golden borders, it is easy to decipher that 65-year-old has been doing this for years. “My husband makes these lamps and I paint them. I have painted over two thousand pieces so far and will be selling them on the stall right outside this lane. This is the best time of the year for us,” she says with a smile. Ask her what keeps her going at this age and she says, “Making diyas requires immense hard work and my husband never wanted our only son to do something as rigorous. He is a salesman. I’m old now and my bones ache but the wheels need to keep churning for the family to survive in Mumbai,” she signs off.
