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‘Lac product artisans facing hardship in keeping age old art alive’
The craftsman, who has presented his talent in several countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Singapore and Mauritius among others, is not happy with the way things are moving ahead.
Amidst the rising popularity of attractive, economical and eco-friendly artificial jewellery among the youth, a craftsman from Jaipur is doing brisk business of traditional lac jewellery at the ongoing Shilp Mela under way at North Central Zone Cultural Centre (NCZCC) here.
Lac is a sticky substance produced by certain insects and used in making varnishes, dyes and sealing wax and many other products. Taking forward this art being propagated by his family for past several generations, Islam Ahmad has visited several countries and shown his talent of making bangles and ‘kada’ (bracelets) from simple lac. Islam is not only selling these bangles but also showcasing the process of making these pieces of art at the fair.
“My forefathers were from Afghanistan and when Rajput ruler Raja Sawai Jai Singh went to Afghanistan, he saw this art being practised by tribals. Impressed by the art, he brought some of the families of these craftsmen along with him, who got settled at ‘Manihar ka Rasta’ in Jaipur,” claims Islam Ahmad. “Now ‘Tripoli Bazaar’ of Jaipur and Urdu-speaking Manihars of Rajasthan are world famous for this art,” he added.
Showing the visitors as to how a simple rod of lac is magically transformed into beautiful designs of bangles, he said, “the raw lac is first melted and mixed with soapstone powder (the same which is used in paints and baby talcum powder) which, when cooled, is collected in shape of a cricket stump. Then the outer layer is applied with colour made from the basic primary colours”.
“The stick like lac is then heated slowly and carefully given the shape of bangle or any other shape we so wish,” he added. Bronze and glitter powders imported from Pakistan is also added to the outer layer of the lac bangles which gives additional colour and designs to it.
“My father, Ahmad Hussain, was also a world-famous artist as in 1961, Queen Elizabeth-II, on her visit to Jaipur, had come to our shop and my father had presented her with bangles made of lac,” he claimed.
However, this craftsman, who has presented his talent in several countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Singapore and Mauritius among others, is not happy with the way things are moving ahead.
“Earlier, such fairs used to provide us with free stall and travelling and dearness allowances but today we have to pay for these stalls and with the cost of raw materials also going up, it is the common man who has to pay the increased price of end products which is hampering our business,” Islam said.
“We don’t want our kids to follow the art as there is no future in it. The governments should provide subsidy on raw material and give patronage to these arts,” said the expert craftsman.
