Heavy mettle

“We worship our work and when today our work has been given its due recognition we feel happy and motivated. We thank allah for the blessing and whenever we do that in our subconscious we have all the Gods and Goddesses to whom we have offered our service with love and dedication,” says Karim Usman Gilder the eldest of the three Gilder brothers. Karim with his brothers Hameed and Rahim is the third generation of Gilders.

A rare sight at the temples takiyah,the round cap worn by the Muslims became a common spectacle when over a century ago Karim’s grandfather,late Hayat Gilder in the year 1905 made the small shrine at Tamboli Masjid his business centre. And today the century old story grows with time to become one of the most accepted facts in the city. The Pandharpur Vithoba’s sparkling sanctum sanctorum and Dagduseth’s glittering gold ornaments owe their shine to their dexterous fingers and trusty old techniques. When 65 years back the business shifted from Tamboli Masjid to Moti Chowk at Ravivar Peth the brand name still remained. And since then the legacy has been carried across the three generations. An alternating series of chemical washes,electro plating and delicate manual cleaning is what involves in refurbishing the jewelleries,doors and shrines. “We have been doing that since so long that whatever expertise we have acquired is from experienced people. Also the trust remains. The precious jewels are given to us because we have been in this business for so long,” says Hameed Usman Gilder,second son of Usman Gilder. The Gilders have also offered special discounts for festival year and worked for Ganesh mandals on a no profit basis.