Saidulu, a potter, has been living on the edge. He’s been preparing for Deepavali celebrations for more than a month now. But rain has been playing spoilsport with his plans.
Saidulu and his neighbour, the two pot-making families at Gollagudem here, fear that their prospective earnings might fall given the erratic rainfall during the month, while modern diyas have been foraying into the market.
“We see overcast sky every day. There will be more fancy lamps from Bengaluru and Maharashtra,” says the 65-year-old potter.
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But they continue to mould the clay into the required 2.5-inch lamps, approximately a thousand times every day. The earthen lamps, kept in ten columns and twenty rows on an old cot, is moved in and out, based on the weather. The wet lamps are ideally sun-dried till a random pick from the lot passes the “sound test” and are later heated in a wood-fired kiln to harden them. But the procedure has been delayed this time, which has left most of the work incomplete owing to wet conditions. “Each lamp sells for ₹1, and the smaller ones at ₹50 paise. People come from different places and buy in bulk,” says Saidulu.
Ramulu, his cousin, also calculates the cost. “A tractor-load of clay from Cherlapally is ₹3,000. We also spend on the transport and firewood, but what we get after all the toiling is very low,” he laments.
Apart from the seasonal sale, earthen pots and bowls for various Hindu festivals and rituals serve little to make their ends meet.
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“But I am not surprised. People have bargained while buying pots, asking why should they pay ₹100 for a pot that would be broken in a burial ground,” he smiles.