- by Bidisha Bhattacharya and TEACO's India

As we step into the last month of bidding adieu to the possibly toughest year that a 90s' kid might have experienced, TEACO'S India and I come together to narrate an agonising truth that somehow got pushed behind amidst the fanatic fracas. Yes, we are talking about our very own potters.

Last month, as our families and closed ones geared up in order to ensure a safe yet fun-filled Diwali, the feeble hands worked tirelessly on the potter’s wheel. With the summer camps and weddings being put off and the business at restaurants nosediving, the colony of traditional potters plunged in with their heart and soul, burning the midnight oil to save their already crippling livelihood.

The year 2018, had brought to limelight the very fact of how traditional earthen diya-makers were facing a huge threat from the decorative lights and ready-made plastic diyas from China. This was due to the simple reason that people no longer wanted to dirty their hands in oil and wick and preferred switching to inexpensive substitutes with better finishing instead.

This year stepped in with a pandemic that pushed the very community to the drain of despair. Apart from selling diyas prior to festivals, potters usually get a huge quantity of orders for small pots and planters from organisers of summer camps for children.

Alongside these camps, orders from plant nurseries, restaurants and kulfi sellers have always ensured annual sustenance of an artisan. However, this pandemic and its accompanying circumstances made it extremely difficult for these businesses to run with "as-is" capacity which forced the demand to plummet creating a large inventory and as a consequence, huge loss.

These artisans also receive a lot of orders for earthen pots at weddings, which is used to make and serve biryani and lassi. But demand has dropped on this front too since weddings have become less ostentatious due to curbs.

Right before this Diwali, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had begun a pan-India movement in order to support local products against purchase of Chinese goods titled Local for Vocal. This self-funded mission was carried out for the entire month of October, this year, across different parts of India with the hashtags "#PottersKiDiwali" and "#Local4Diwali" trending on various social media platforms. While that did help create awareness among citizens regarding the persisting plight, it wasn't enough for them to be able to survive on more than a meal a day.

Seventy-six year old Shiv Kumar, the potter who spoke to the team of TEACO'S , had expressed his hope of people buying the diyas his family has been working on for the past few months for various occasions but also fear that this pandemic and social distancing rules might hinder a larger mass to gather. He has been into this business since his childhood days and remains to be one of the very few traditional potters of the colony who continues to eke out a living by churning the potter's wheel.

This article doesn't solely aim at increasing awareness but also puts forth a request to every single individual out there to rise and realise.

These little earthen lamps are not just sources of light, they represent hope, positivity and are symbolic to the victory of good over evil. The epic Ramayana mentions about residents of Ayodhya, Lord Rama’s birth place, who had lit up the city with diyas on his return after 14 years in exile. Yet with time, convenience and technology having taken over, the importance of diyas somewhere took a backseat.

As we look forward to begin a healthy and prosperous 2021, let us all make a sincere effort to ensure the Potter Community sees the Light of the Day too.

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