Lighting Diwali for 60 years

Amarjot Kaur

More than 20 families of Kumhars (potters), dwelling at a slum in Sector 25, Kumhar Colony, have been toiling in the sun to make an extra buck this Diwali. With all hands on deck, they have already made hundreds of tiny diyas, which will be sold in the market for Rs 10 a dozen.

In sight is a considerably old, stout, grey-haired woman, meticulously crafting a chulah-like earthen-ware. Her sons, Vinod and Dinesh Kumar, are busy too. The younger one, Vinod (34), sifts the clay from a puddle of mud through a wood-frame jaali. He is knee-deep in one of the three pits he dug to hold the clay. Dinesh is busy arranging the diyas, alternating them with small portions of cow-dung cake to make a bhatti (a jugaad for kiln). They claim to be the fourth-generation inhabitants of Chandigarh—a city that was built in 1960.

Deep roots

“Our ancestors dug the foundation for many buildings here, including the Tagore Theatre and The Secretariat. We are probably the oldest community living in the city,” says Vinod, who later tells us that before it was demolished in 2007, the Kumhar Colony was home to 271 families at least. 

In an article published in The Tribune (Chandigarh edition), on July 12, 2007, it was mentioned that the land (of Kumhar Colony) was to be handed over to Panjab University and that 350 vacant structures were removed. 

“Most people moved to Maloya village nearby. We are still homeless jhuggi-dwellers. They wouldn’t even issue a registration certificate (RC) for my bike, which still has a temporary number, because the system doesn’t recognise jhuggis as a permanent address,” says Vinod, whose wife, an anganwadi worker, has not received her salary for months now. 

“In a good season,” Vinod adds, “we earn up to Rs 20,000, but we are a 13-member family. Also, I have two daughters and a son to look after. The elder one studies at the government school in Sector 23, the younger one goes to Guru Nanak Public School, Sector 36; and the boy goes to Sector 22’s Shishu Niketan Model Senior Secondary School.”

Family profession

Though Kumhars send their children to school, most of them take after the family’s profession after tenth. 

In the neighbouring jhuggi, 17-year-old Vikas keeps the wheel spinning, as he shapes a chunk of clay into a vase-like structure making a diya on its tip. His mother, Kamla Devi, too sculpts without stopping for a second. 

When asked if he went to school, Vikas replies quickly, “...at the church in Sector 24, I did, but I had to get back to pottery to make ends meet. Can’t let my family starve, can I?” 

The question lingers as one walks out of the colony towards the road. On the pavement, Vinod’s elder brother, Dinesh, is still stacking diyas in a bhatti. “On the other side of this wall is the boys’ hostel (of Panjab University’s Sector 25 campus). We need to bake these real quick. If the boys complain to the police about the smoke, they will come and throw water on it; I can’t afford a loss. These must be about 100 diyas,” says Dinesh. 

Vinod adds, “Thankfully, we have these newly installed toilets here, but there’s no water. There are only two taps that supply water in this colony. We all take turns to fetch it for making clay.”

Wishful thinking

Reenu, all of 22, assists her mother about 10 feet from Dinesh’s bhatti. For the sake of small talk, she makes an innocuous request, “You write for a newspaper? We didn’t even get an accommodation in the Bhaskar Colony.” 

We ask her what she wishes for this Diwali. “A pakka house that doesn’t fill up with rainwater during the monsoon, and I want to study further,” she gives a hopeful smile.

Maloya serves as a government-made rehabilitation colony for the Kumhars that were displaced from Sector 25’s Kumhar Colony in 2007. 

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One for the road

Near the traffic signal dividing Sector 23 and 24, Pawan Kumar holds the fort like he has been doing for the past nine years. This 28-year-old has everything, ranging from floaters, taborets, idols of lord Ganesh and goddess Lakshmi, to Gujarati diyas. “It’s good that the Chinese lights are being boycotted. That has given us more business. People have started to frequent our shops now. I do make enough, maybe because we have fancy items,” he says. However, in Sector 41, a Maloya-based couple looks anxiously at passer-bys, hoping to strike a deal. “This time we haven’t made any profit, neither during Navrataras, nor Karwa Chauth. I hope things get better in Diwali,” say 45-year-old Pappu and his wife, Reshma.