I got an award for a sa-re-ga-ma-pa-da-ni-sa product we created. Our family was not traditionally in copper bell maaking. My father came into this trade because he saw good opportunity in it. Our market used to be only that of maldharis’. We were doing well as we didn’t have many expenses also. But about 20-25 years back, their live stock started coming down rapidly. And we have to search for new avenues. During that period we knew a few artisans who used to get invitations to attend exhibitions and they were doing well in the exhibitions. We weren’t well known and didn’t get any invitations.So my father used to pay visits to Development Commissioner’s office, Handicrafts, Ministry of Textiles, Bhuj to ask if there are any new market opportunities in the bells sector, or if we too can get invitations to attend the exhibitions. After few visits, we started getting invitations to the exhibitions. That brought about a huge change in our work and the income we generated from the craft.
Today we get orders constantly. I feel there are no design interventions in this sector. The craft growth is very linear. Through design innovation a new direction can be given to this craft.
