Though ‘mixies’ and grinders have made deep inroads into urban and rural households, a few artisans in Bantwal taluk of Dakshina Kannada continue to survive making the ‘back-breaking’ stone grinders (big sized mortars and pestles). A few more families survive making them in the nearby Bollai village.
Two decades ago there were many stone quarries with more than 100 artisans making the grinders. But you no longer get the right kind of stones from the quarries. However, as you approach a mosque in Panjekallu – off Mudipua-Kukkaje Road, about 35 km from here – the rhythmic sound of chiselling the grinders attracts you.
“Two decades ago there were 20 quarries and more than 100 artisans working in this village,” said Ibrahim Montimar. Mohammad Kunhi, who specialises in removing from the quarry the right-sized stones for mortars and pestles, says he has been working for over three decades and predicts that in the next couple years, the business and the art would vanish, at least from this village. “Already there is hardly any demand. Look at the stock we have,” said Jayantha, who too has spent three decades in it.
Backache and belt
Though most artisans say they would not want their children get “immersed in the dusty business”, Abbas Khalil of Ira village, aged around 50, and his son Ibrahim Khalil, just out of his teens, work side by side – son on a mortar and father on a pestle. Senior Mr. Khalil says he could not earn enough to educate his children and that he has to keep hammering the chisel on though stones though he has had a slipped disk. He wears a belt to control his back pain. The young man says he knew no other way of earning his livelihood, having been out of school after class 8. “I did not go to college,” he says wryly. Is the job enjoyable? “Khushi entha?” (what is there to enjoy in it?), they reply.
Most artisans complain of backache and take tablets once or twice. When it aggravates, they visit a clinic and get an injection. Most of them manage to make about Rs. 300 a day. “A daily wager in a field earns Rs. 450,” says Adrama of Padpu. A typical 18-inch grinder fetches them Rs. 2,000 and the bigger ones (20-inch) Rs. 2,500 from a merchant from Mangaluru.
Automation
A small unit of Mudipu-Manchi Road in Bantwal taluk adds value to the stone grinders made by artisans in Panjikallu and Bollai and makes them run on power. The unit run by Janardhana Prabhu too is running out of orders. The lone employee at the unit said customers would hardly come as one unit purchased would last for 20 years and hoteliers and households preferred more advanced grinders.
