Sunday, April 18, 2010

mukungarh ki kaichee




this village is known for its scissors...they are known far and wide for the sharpness and accuracy of the scissors they make...

years earlier their ancestors made swords for the maharajas and now they evolved into scissor making as the times changed and they needed to survive...but the lack of work and the goodness of their work are the reason why this art seems to be dying... their scissors once bought will last u a minimum of thirty yrs and even if u cut iron for 5 continuous yrs it wont become blunt!...and so the people who buy them never come bk!!...

among the many scissor makers only two families survive and even now their children have taken up other jobs. yesterday i met a scissor maker who would not talk to me. he would sit and continue working while i stared in awe at him working the metal.

it took a lot of coaxing and prodding to finally break in...and when i did i found this amazing warm person conflicted by his present times and the lack of work but carrying within him a love for his art and a devotion so deep that i had to respect him. a humbling experience...

we sat and had chai..showed them videos...talked to the little girls who fought with their older brother...listened to the old mother who had so much to tell...they were talking and how!...pouring all their fears and stories into one conversation...feeling exhilarated and sad at the same time..we left having given a little and getting a lot back.

these scissors are special and one has to own one to know it!...

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