One mans superstition can be another mans sustenance. The village of Ustal in Maharashtras Ahmednagar district is where the kaali bawlithe little black doll that dangles upside down from trucks and cycle rickshaws and which is meant to ward off the evil eyeis made and packed off to other districts in the state. Ustal,a village with a population of around 10,000,falls in Newasa taluka and is around 165 km from Pune. The primary occupation among villagers is agriculture but a walk through the village reveals how the kaali bawli business is an essential part of their lives. Little black dolls dangle in clusters in front of homes and shops and men,women and children sit in open courtyards cutting black cloth,stuffing the dolls with sawdust and sewing them up. The dolls of Ustal are sent to other cities in Maharashtra such as Aurangabad,Nasik,Mumbai and Pune. It was 48-year-old Pandarnath Asaram Kale who started making kaali bawlis in the village around three decades ago. The Kales are a joint family with 20 members and all of them are actively involved in making these dolls. The family makes 6,000 dolls a week and sells them at for Rs 20 a dozen to the wholesalers. During amavasya,the full moon day,we sell 12,000 dolls per week, says Kishore Namdev Kale,a 30-year-old. Till a decade ago,the family sold dolls for Rs 35 a dozen but when other villagers also ventured into the business,the competition forced them to bring down the price to Rs 20 for a dozen,says Sunita Kale,a daughter-in-law in the Kale household. At the Shani Shaishwar Devasthan,a shani temple in Shani Shinganapur thats 15 km from Ustal,around 800 shops near the temple sell these black dolls. Around 90 per cent of the dolls are from Ustal, says Prashant Yashwantrao Gadakh,a member of the temple committee. Devotees buy these dolls as an offering to Lord Shani and after the darshan,take them back home. Priced at Rs 10 a piece,every shopkeeper sells an average of 25 dolls a day. On Saturdays,a special day for Lord Shani,we easily sell more than 50 kaali bawlis, says Balasaheb Mandhi,one of the shopkeepers.
