“It has been 45 years since I started working as a potter. My elders had been in this business for a long time. I studied till second grade, after which my father started taking me with him to his workplace. I was 10 years old when I started learning the trade. By the age of 15, my father had died and I had taken over his shop.

My father had the distinction of making a train out of mud when he was 20 and no one else has achieved this feat till now. Former CDA chairman Kamran Lashari once visited my shop and expressed his willingness to buy the train, but I refused. The train is so popular that I charge Rs20 per person from those who come to my shop in Saidpur village to see it. Most of the visitors are foreigners. To my credit is another train and replicas of an airplane, bridge and Minar-i-Pakistan.

Most of my customers buy clay utensils and decorative items. I also have customers who come to buy tandoors. I earn around Rs1,000 to Rs1,500 per day. The money that we earn is not equal to the amount of effort that we put in.

I have six children; three sons and three daughters. Only one of my sons had done matriculation; the rest dropped out. All of them are married now. In a break of tradition, my sons have not followed me into this profession. All three of them are in the catering business.

I think they made the right decision. There was a time when our work paid well, as most people used clay utensils a few decades ago. Today, most of my customers are visiting foreign delegations who buy these items as souvenirs.”

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2019