“My father used to make hosiery in Mohanpura, where I was born. I live in a house I rent in Pirwadhai now. I have four children, a daughter and three sons. My eldest son went to school and so does the youngest. The middle one ran away from school a few times and so I started taking him to work instead of just letting him wandering around.

I learnt my work in Gung Maundi from Ustaad Taj, who is famous in Asia for this work. From a very young age, I learnt how to polish metal crockery and repair it, especially those made of bronze, silver and copper.

The metal crockery business was booming almost 30 years ago and everyone could afford to buy it. Now people tend to buy crockery made from other metals including silver, steel and aluminium which are cheaper and lighter.

For instance, if you want a bucket with a capacity of three or four litres and made of bronze or copper, it will cost you between Rs4,000 and Rs5,000. However, a bucket of the same size but made of silver will cost between Rs1,500 and Rs2,000.

Bronze and copper crockery needed to be polished, maintained and cleaned from time to time. There are just a few people who still use bronze and copper crockery. These are the people who do not want to change their traditions.”

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2017