Clinking it

Our correspondent finds out that making bangles requires a handful of skill

Our correspondent finds out that making bangles requires a handful of skill
Bangles are dainty. Bangles are feminine. Bangles have had many Bollywood songs written about them. But trying to make one of them definitely drives away any romantic illusions about this ethnic accessory. I learned this fact at Chokhi Dhani, the village resort on the periphery of Pune, where Roshanlal, a bangle maker was kind enough to take me on as his new student. I was in awe as I watched Roshanlal draw out a stout red bangle with white, silver and yellow colour stripes coiled around it. The bangle was hooked over a stick that he held over the blazed coal.

Roshanlal asked me to sit down near the burner and handed me the heated stick on which the bangles were moulded. 8220;This stick is called a moudi, it has malleable lac affixed to its upper end which we heat on the burner. As the lac melts, mould it with this wooden tool and make a bangle,8221; he said.

For the next 15 minutes, I kept juggling and fumbling with the moudi, but nothing else except time, seemed to be melting over the burner. Roshanlal gave me cold stare. 8220;Hold the stick close to the burner or else the lac will not melt,8221; he said.

I followed his advice though I kept thinking my fingers were going to get singed. The lac started melting. Roshanlal was ready with the next set of instructions. 8220;Now, we need to melt the colours and coat it with lac. Choose whatever colour you like,8221; said Roshanlal. I picked yellow. The colour had to be melted like the lac, but it seemed more stubborn. I finally managed after another 10 minutes.

The silence as the lac melted on my bangle and the yellow colour took hold was broken by a customer request. 8220;My daughter had placed an order of two blue bangles8212;are they ready?8221; asked a lady. 8220;I8217;m sorry ma8217;am, I don8217;t know about it,8221; I said. 8220;Then ask your assistant, he would know,8221; she replied.

Roshanlal was a man of contained egos. He calmly replied, 8220;Your bangles will be ready in 20 minutes, come back later.8221;

I had to get my bangle ready and get out of Roshanlal8217;s way fast. But I was struggling with the processes of heating and colouring at the same time. I tried to level the string of lac that drew from the moudi, in a hurry, I pressed quickly. The mouled lac broke and the length left was not sufficient to make the bangle. Roshan Lal was kind and said, 8220;No problems, try again.8221;

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I had to heat it all over again. This time the required length of moulded lac was ready in less than 10 minutes and I detached it with a cutter and slid metallic loop in it. The bangle was ready, now came the designing bit. The bangle was placed over another wooden log to give it a fine and sturdy shape. 8220;Make any design you like,8221; Roshanlal said. But I didn8217;t know any. 8220;Twist and turn it with your thumb and then flatten it,8221; he guided. In less then a minute the hot bangle was ready to be sold.

I kept my bangle in a basket full of other bangles made by Roshanlal. I waited for customers to pick mine. None did.

I had given up on my bangle being picked up by anyone. I said thanks to Roshanlal for his time and effort and was all set to go home. That8217;s when he said, 8220;This is something you have made for the first time, keep it as a gift.8221; I knew the yellow bangle was going to be my favourite accessory for a long time.