Little did we know while walking into the Nehru Exhibition Centre that day, that we were going to find our bestseller today. We were at that Jute Exhibition only to pick more of those beautifully handcrafted Jute Lamps(will discuss more about it in my future blogs), but what caught my attention was the uniquely hand crafted neck pieces.In spite of not being a jute product, they were a part of the exhibition because they were from West Bengal.
That was the day when we first met Mr. Ratan Shan, who has now become a part of my speed dial list. When I went to his stall, I instantly fell in love with the jewelry that he was selling. It was the most unique jewelry I had ever seen. Didn't bother much about asking him on the details of the art, but just quickly picked up 25 pieces of every product he had. On a very bad day at an exhibition, he was ecstatic to have found us. But it was only later that we realized that it was we who were lucky to have found him. We always have an order for him, and he never fails to please us with new designs or color combinations.
But what is this jewelry ? And why is it named Dokhra?
The Dokhra system of metal casting is one of the oldest form of metal casting and is technically known as ‘cire perdue’ or lost wax process. The nomadic tribes which have now settled in Burdwan, Bankura, Birbhum and Midnapore districts of West Bengal use this system to make tribal jewelry and provide a living for themselves. Under the guidance of Ratan Shah – a local artist himself, we have a group of displaced tribal women working for us. It is he who has gathered these women, trained them (though most of them inherit the skill from their mothers) and marketed them and this form of art.
As he often tells me, each of these women have some or the other problem in their personal lives. And the fighters that they are, they manage their households as well as earn a living for their families with always a smile on their face. Women in the rural India go through a lot more than us and are way more capable of dealing with such crises. Though we often say women are becoming equal to men.. But if we were to just peep into their lives once, we would never deny that they aren't becoming equal but are obviously superior.
Just to help you with the list of products and their rates :
Earrings : Rs. 100 a pair
Judda pins : Rs. 100 each
Threaded neck pieces : Rs. 250 onward
Chunkier Necklaces : Rs. 350 onward
