Incredible talent but no future

Incredible talent but no future

All that glitters is not gold. It is a proverb which we all have been listening for years. But it is proved under the shelter of Dilli Haat. One can experience an incredible talent of India but no one can experience the plight of the people who have made the entity of Dilli haat.
Basically, Dilli haat is a unique, upgraded version of the traditional weekly market, offering a delightful amalgam of craft, food and cultural activities. Unlike the traditional weekly market, the village Haat, Dilli Haat is permanent. Some shops are permanent but other sellers are rotated, usually for fifteen days. In the exhibitions like “Hastkala Utsav”, which was organized by the BHARITYA SHILPKAAR SAMITI where artisans were gathered from different states to show their work. Products offered includes rosewood and sandalwood carvings, embellished camel hide footwear, sophisticated fabric and drapery, gems, beads, brassware, metal crafts, and silk and wool fabrics. Shows promoting handicrafts and handlooms are held at the exhibition hall in the complex. The Dilli Haat is indeed a window to the world of rich cultural vibrance. Dilli Haat brings the distant ends of the traditional threads closer.

But behind this glitter, the people who make this place so happening and beautiful works very hard to eke out. They hire the stalls at a rent of Rs 6,000 to 10,000 according to the space they occupy. And some people like, Ramesh kumar, a traditional musician who was not able to pay much and was allowed to sit under the tree with his bucket full of Ektara (type of violin made up of wood) & he plays it to attract the visitors so that they purchase it from him. He outplays it but he doesn’t want to take it to his next generation. He said there is no future in it, as now a day’s people not very keen to listen to it or buy it. By which it is very difficult for people like them to survive in this profession. It is his compulsion to be in this profession because he has spent half of his life in this work and now is not able to change his profession, but he doesn’t want his children to follow the same path. There were at least seven or eight people like him who think in the same way. Omprakash, another musician who has been coming there for the last 12 years said in such a manner that “madamji is kaam mein kya rakha hai, hum logo ko koi fayada nahin hota hai”. (What is in this work, we are not able to earn any profit from it).

Then moving on to another stall where so many wooden paintings are placed. The owner Swarna kamal Majumdar from Tripura comes here with his paintings which he and his group has been making with the use of bamboos also don’t want his children to get indulged in this work. As he said these paintings take lots of time and efforts to prepare and after that when we see the people‘s response towards our work it hurts a lot.

There was a stall of God idols, jewellery and paintings which was made up of seap. The owner Amal from kolkata, the state and national award winner said that he is quite happy with the way his business is shaping up. But when asked about whether he will want his children to carry it forward then he desperately said that it depends on them whether they want to carry on or not.

Amar singh prajapati, the national award winner for his beautiful sculptures which he made himself with the help of his family members said that he is in this profession for the last 20 years and he has grown up seeing this art in his house. So it is in his blood and he always want to stay in this profession until he lives whether his children carry on or not.
But there are hardly a few people like him, otherwise most of the people compelled to run it. It shows that the incredible talent is getting faded day by day.