Life Fashioned From Clay
They play with clay, in rain or shine, in utmost patience and creativity in order to handcraft toys for children, pots for sweet shops, flower tubs and show-pieces for urban residences and offices and utensils for rural households.
But these potters, who have been preserving the old heritage of the country, earn a paltry Tk 5 to Tk 12 for an item. They cater to demands from across the country but receive little assistance from the government. Their profit margin is much lower when juxtaposed against the cost and physical labour involved.
As Laxmi Rani, a potter in Daniapara village under Munshiganj, says, in her village 50 families, seven generations of whom have been involved in the profession, are increasingly disappearing in the face of an aggressive advent of modern technologies. Even so, the community has continued pursuing the trade in order to carve a niche for itself --- from that basic of elements, clay.
Photo: Anisur Rahman
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