After two years, artists from Nellore back in Navi Mumbai with cane lanterns

Navi Mumbai After two years of pandemic, cane-artists from Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, returned to the streets of Kharghar in an attempt to make the Diwali of Navi Mumbaikars not just colourful, but also environment-friendly

Navi Mumbai After two years of pandemic, cane-artists from Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, returned to the streets of Kharghar in an attempt to make the Diwali of Navi Mumbaikars not just colourful, but also environment-friendly.

Navi Mumbai, India - Oct. 21, 2022: Sector 19 residents Kanika and Manoj Mehra purchasing Cane lanterns from the Nellore community at Kharghar in Navi Mumbai, India, on Friday, October 21, 2022. (Photo by Bachchan Kumar/ HT PHOTO) (HT PHOTO)

Around 10 families belonging to Kaikadi community in Nellore arrived a month ago with a truck load of cane-lanterns they had been making since last eight months.

“We’ve been coming here every Diwali for the last 15 years to sell our products. But this has been the worst year till now. People aren’t ready to pay the price we quote and moreover the customers football is also very less. Before the pandemic struck, sales were much better,” says P Yengattamma (40), who has come here with her four children, and husband Chinnayya (45).

Her eldest daughter Nandini (18), who is doing her first-year graduation, decided to stay back home in Nellore this year as she wanted to focus on her studies. Yengattamma proudly says that her daughter is in Class 13 and is studying agriculture. She hopes that her daughter doesn’t have to continue with the ‘family-business’ and lands a good job.

“If she studies well, she will get a good alliance too or else she will be married to someone who has to live on the road like us. My sons accompany my husband to various markets in Kharghar and Kamothe where he goes to sell these lanterns. We usually don’t roam around to sell them, but this year since the response is not good, we are forced to go around with the lanterns to sell them,” she added.

Nalagonda Kumari (25) is here with all her five children. She has been coming to Navi Mumbai with her parents before she got marriage. And now she comes with her husband and children.

“My children who are in Class 6 and 8 also join me sometimes when I am making the lanterns. They are studying as well. If they fail to get a job, they too will make a living like us,” Kumari said.

She further added, “We spent ₹30,000 in transportation of the lanterns from Nellore to Navi Mumbai via truck. We are hoping that we don’t have to take back anything. The lanterns start from ₹100 and goes upto ₹500 as per the size, while we earn anywhere between ₹500 to ₹2000 per day.”

It takes around 2 hours to make one lantern and more if the size is big. After going back to Nellore, they make baskets, caps and other products using cane which they sell in the local markets. Along with that, they also start preparing for the next year’s Diwali lanterns for Navi Mumbaikars.

Sector 19 resident Kanika Mehra, who purchased two cane lanterns said, “The market is filled with paper lanterns which is costly and doesn’t sustain for long. These are sturdy and will stay for many years. Moreover, they also add beauty to the decor.”

These artists source the cane from a village which is around five hours away from Nellore and fibre from Bangalore. The fibre used along with the cane, to make the lantern colourful.