When Urdu poet Noon Meem Rashid penned his masterpiece “Hassan Koozagar” (Hassan the Potter) he used the trope of a potter to describe the deepest human emotions.
Hassan the Potter turns away from his pots the moment he falls for Jahanzad. But in Bahawalpur, potters don’t betray their wares. They try to keep alive their inherited art of pottery.
They have persevered in a world that spins faster than the potter’s wheel.
Their hands craft pots in various shapes and sizes and earn praise for their exquisite beauty.
But they are as unhappy as Hassan the Potter.
“Each pot sells for Rs50 to Rs60. We sell our hard work in pennies,” they tell SAMAA TV.
One of the craftsmen says that his father and grandfather were also in the business and his children will likely continue the tradition though they were at school yet.
The demand for pottery has almost faded in cities. However, it is dying in villages too.
The diminishing demand has hugely impacted this cottage industry.
They cannot benefit from the economy of scales because pottery is after all an art!
They begin by locating suitable clay, which is not easily available.
And then, unlike Hassan the Potter who neglected his craft, they struggle to breathe life in it.
Reporting by Ahsan Ansari
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