A woeful story of dying culture of pottery in South Kashmir’s Hurdumir village

BASHARAT RASHID

Tral: The advent of newer, cheaper materials has catalyzed several crafts to be on the verge of phasing out. The scope of pottery culture in Jammu and Kashmir has narrowed down and caused potters to look for alternative sustainable sources of income, thus triggering a drop in the local artisans who practiced this craft.

Hurdumir (Bunmir), a hamlet in the Tral sub-district has a community of artisans that have garnered a name in pottery culture & once used to be among the well-known and leading pottery craft villages of Kashmir.

The area has a Neolithic site as well titled as ‘Gufkral’, dated by archaeologists to the Neolithic period, which remained the living place of the people of Bonn-Mir. The people in this hamlet used to maintain the pottery craft in and outside the caves for decades.

However, the families associated with pottery craft are slowly breaking their knot with this age-old profession because this profession is not capable of providing them a  two square meal. The trend of replacing old items and embracing modern cooking utensils has indeed made our lives easy and more comfortable, but at the same time have put an end to the most fructuous era of pottery culture of Kashmiri kitchens.

‘People are no more interested in buying clay vessels when they have a variety available among steel, china, plastic, etc said one of the locals.’. Expressing his consternation the local further said,’the pottery craft was passed on from generation to generation, however, only a handful of families now  are following it. The reason being a sharp decline in the demand side. Pottery craft  is no more considered as a source of sustainable income, keeping in view the plastic and other steel-based vessels in the market, the new generation is losing interest in it’, stated the local.

Another local resident Hilal Ahmad said that his parents narrate him their childhood stories, ” There was a time when almost all the families of Bonn Mir were associated with pottery craft and would travel from place to place to sell their pots, it would fetch them good money, said Hilal. ” However, with the passage of time, this craft is losing ground.

Unfazed by the market trends, Ghulam Qadir, a local potter of the village, can be seen vivaciously making earthen pots on a  wheel. Every spin of the wheel which Qadir moves without any fail speaks about the satisfying relationship that Qadir has maintained with his work.

Qadir does not bother about the changing trends and believes in hard work and persistence.

Ghulam Qadir said that he will continue making these earthen pots to maintain the legacy he has inherited from his family. His parents used to make these pots and advised him to do the same. However, the only grudge he holds deep inside is the fluctuating market.  “The market is sinking down as compared to the past, those were the good old days when we used to sell dozens of pots in a day contrary to the present when we wait for days together for customers to turn up,” said Qadir .

Meanwhile, the potter fraternity of this village have demanded immediate intervention of govt by providing a good market for the produced items. Also, develop a comprehensive policy to preserve the art of pottery.