Turning the wheel

The morning sun has just about managed to gain some strength, colouring Pench forest’s Wainganga river a mix of orange, pale yellow, scattered with silver glitter. Perhaps, in a quest to bathe in the morning stars, a herd of deer, in a straight line, galloped into the waters to cross over to the other side on the gorge.

The same one where author Rudyard Kipling decided to put Sher Khan of TheJungle Book to rest.

But, Mowgli lives on here; his statue is on a city square and inside the jungle. At the forest entrance gate the board reads ‘Welcome to Mowgli Land, Pench, Madhya Pradesh’.

In 1831, British officer William Sleeman found a little boy eating human flesh along with wolves and was believed to have been brought up by the pack. The officer’s book Rambles and Recollection , talking of the wolf child seemed to have served as Kipling’s inspiration for The Jungle Book . Locals believe that many of the locations in the jungle resemble those described by Kipling.

“People here truly believe that this is Mowgli’s jungle,” says Sourabh Ghosh, resident of Pench and co-owner of Kohka Wilderness Camp, an eco-friendly hotel. “That’s what makes this Reserve special for some tourists.”

So does its main attraction, a few iconic tigresses such as Collarwali and Langdi. Forest guide Ajay says that Collarwali has had seven litters, mothering a total of 26 cubs. Most tigresses stop at four. “At 12, she is expected to have at least one more litter,” says Ajay. Langdi was born with deformity and abandoned by her mother soon after. But, she managed to survive and now has cubs of her own.

The mighty forest has for long been a major source of income for Pench’s people and now the locals and the government is looking to promote homegrown crafts and culture.

Pachdhar, about 15 km away from Pench Forest’s Turia Gate, is a village of 80 households of traditional potters. Petrichor is a permanent resident of this quaint place, as all year round the women here water and knead the clay for the men, who sit on the wheel and create earthen pots, lamps, lanterns and now also a few clay masks and wind chimes. Every home here comes with a dedicated space in the verandas, where sand, earlier sourced from the forest and now mostly from farms, is stored and later watered and kneaded.

Their backs and necks always sore, the residents of Pachdhar have produced earthen pots for generations. “As long as I can remember, we have done nothing else but this,” says Lakshmilal Samachari, 44, a fifth-generation potter. However, the younger residents lost faith in the profession because of the dip in demand and income.

Three years ago, Ghosh and Sanjay Nagar of the NGO Kohka Foundation came across the village while looking for artefacts for their hotel. The duo began commissioning work to the potters only to realise that most of them were still using the wobbly manual wheel and making only pots. This led to the decision to rope in professional potters from Wardha in Maharashtra to conduct workshops. Held over a year, these sessions helped the Pachdhar artisans learn the methods of making kullad (earthen tumbler), decorative lanterns, lamps, masks, pans and better-looking surahi (the long-necked clay pot for storing water).

“The workshops made me realise, for the first time, that our community is way behind time. If we want to survive today, we will have to upgrade our skills,” says 21-year-old Manisha Prajapati, the only woman potter in Pachdhar. Most of Manisha’s friends and boys in the village have left their homes and the craft in search of jobs in the city. Manisha’s father, Anand, 51, learned the art of finishing at these sessions. “Our pots were crude. We learnt how to make neater and more finished pots here.”

Even Samachari has recorded 30 per cent higher sales in the last two months. “A few years ago when steel and aluminium took over, the business took a beating,” he says. “We hung on because we didn’t know any other craft. But my two sons wanted to leave the profession. I didn’t let them, so they worked reluctantly.” The workshops also acquainted the Pachdhar potter with the electronic wheel, which created some interest among the younger lot. “I love pottery, but a few years ago, I thought that it was not worth the hard work we put into it,” says Prakash. “It also got quite boring, doing the same thing again and again, but the workshops have opened up new avenues.”

Some hotels in the area have begun to bring in tourists for visits here, which have upped the potters’ business and confidence. “We now have people from as far as Mumbai and Delhi appreciate our work and their recommendations bring in more tourists. This makes us happy,” says 18-year-old Kuldeep Ghati.

Riddhi Doshiis a freelance journalist based in Mumbai

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