Handicraft Uncrafted By Artisan Hands

How technology is altering equations between traditional skills and the market

- Lola Nayar

DILSHAD Hussain, winner of several national and state awards, now depends mostly on his family members, including his daughters and daughters-in-law, to carry forward the traditional craft of engraving or nakashi and enamel or kathai work that has been slowly disappearing from Moradabad—the town once known as the brass city of Uttar Pradesh and a major export hub. With government support, Hussain has trained several youngsters keen to learn the craft he learnt from his grandfather, and happily mentions that his daughter Ujma Khatoon is also a state award-winner.

“The brass city is now a misnomer,” says Hussain. “As the cost of brass has more than doubled since 2005, aluminum, steel, wood and glass have repla­ced it in most cases. Technology is also advancing very fast and steadily replacing handicraft. For ins­tance, moulding, casting, engraving, scrapping, polishing and finishing are now mostly done by machines, particularly in big units.”

Ajam Ansari, member of the All India Handicrafts Board, admits that barring small units still using old machinery, export units are mostly mechanised, with computerised designs and even laser engraving for faster production at lower cost. Only 60 per cent of the handicrafts sold in the domestic market or exported are handcrafted, he reckons. The estimate can be doubted as new machinery has made it difficult to tell handcrafted products from machine­made ones. Handcrafted items are unique in design, come with long tradi­tions, and are special to a region.