Ek per Mathura laage, Dal gayi Jaran nath
Phul jo phule Dwarka, Phal lage Badrinath
The tree took root at Mathura, the branch went to Jagannath; the flowers bloomed at Dwarka, the fruit at Badrinath. 8216;8216;And Krishna Bhakti spread and spread, all over India and now all over the world,8217;8217; says sanjhi artist Sanjay Soni, of the old saying. Sanjhi is the art of handcutting designs on paper. It was once spread over Brajmandal UP-Rajasthan-Haryana but is now practised exclusively by Sanjay8217;s family at Mathura, since the last five generations.
The Sonis were originally goldsmiths, which explains their ease with this delicate art form. It needs special iron scissors just a handspan long, with curved steel tips, and a cosy fit for the thumb. It was once done on fragile parchment now a lost material in India, alas: cloth simply doesn8217;t diffuse light the same way. Sanjhi now requires reams of handmade paper, banana fibre or even super-fragile and super-sanctified bark of Himalayan birch bhoj patra/Betula utilis. Soni whose name comes not from the Punjab but from the Hindi word sonhar for goldsmith shrugs at the squares of plastic that he stencils for slender pilgrim pockets, even though it takes tremendous chunks of time: 8216;8216;There are no shortcuts with sanjhi. And we are the only people doing this in the whole world. My rich clients go mad looking for me during the Navratras, when it8217;s the custom of Brijmandal to offer rangoli on the walls and floors of Krishna8217;s temples. But this is not just about money. It is our particular seva. Why should a poorer person not afford this?8217;8217;
This traditional craftsman is no slouch when it comes to modernising for the 8216;market8217;. Soni participates in every crafts mela with a certain status because he is the last one left, at just 25. His products go way beyond traditional pilgrim stencils of Krishna8217;s life to abstract coasters, trays, decorative panels in exquisite Mughal jaali latticework designs, all sandwiched in best-quality glass and neatly framed in light pine, even heart-stoppingly delicate Ganeshas cut on bhoj patra and framed, that are ready to put straight into the pooja corner. It is quite unbelievable in today8217;s snappier world that a human being could sit cross-legged for hours on end by the Yamuna as a combined act of family pride and personal faith. Yet, he8217;s terrifically 8216;contemporary8217;, just like all those urban Indians who handle both poojas and parties comfortably. Soni too has swung both: adapting his art to making modern objects for modern needs, yet keeping fast to 8216;tradition8217;. It8217;s a huge responsibility being the Last Craftsman of sanjhi. But as those exquisite plastics prove, cultural responsibility works at many levels. And in another plastic bag nearby, nestle pink lotuses, waiting for Soni to nip down to the shivala by the Yamuna and 8216;8216;do seva8217;8217;, the euphemism for prayer.
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