Tags:
Journalism of Courage
VADHAWAN, Jan 27: Along the coast, where formless sand stretches across, a die is cast every day here in Vadhawan. Amidst fishing nets and dried Bombay Ducks, a unique artisanship silently glows in almost every house in some of the coastal villages of Thane district.
In villages of Vadhawan, Chinchani and Tarapur in Dahanu tehsil it is difficult to find a house that does not have an inhouse workshop for making dies for jewellery. It is a work that requires the force of lathe machines and soft fingers of an artist. . Between two cubes of heavy metal a thin gold sheet is pressed with a shaft cutting the gold sheet with embossed designs.
The technique is not too old, explains R G Madale, who works with his son and grand son. The technique was developed by a man called Murlidhar Bale when the market for thin golden jewellery expanded.
Initially the art remained confined to the Vishwakarma Panchal family but spread steadily with the demand. Today in three villages there are more than 2,000 artisans.
The international market is slowly opening up to the comparatively cheaper technique of making gold plate jewellery.
The orders literally started pouring two years ago when the phone connection arrived at Chinchani village. (Vadhawan still does not have STD connection).
“Earlier orders used to come through postal services and some times agents used to drop in,” said Madale’s son. A die is sold at anywhere between Rs 300 and Rs 5000 depending on the size and complex design. Each unit makes about 25 to 30 dies a month.
Yet the State Government is yet to recognise the industry. The artisan feel that the die-making should be recognised as a cottage industry, but they are not agitated about the government’s apathy, but for electricity and means of fast communication.
