Art in oblivion

Bathinda’s Jodhpur Pakhar village, once home to the traditional charkha, now lies in isolation as the youth has shifted to towns in search of gainful employment, writes S P Sharma

Seventyfive-year-old Sant Singh turns nostalgic as he traces the tradition of manufacturing the spinning wheel, the charkha, in his village Jodhpur Pakhar that has, over the years, virtually been pushed into oblivion as there are hardly any buyers of the beautifully-crafted manual spinning machine.

Sant Singh with parts of charkhas manufactured by him, which are of no use today Photos by the writer

Lachman Singh shows unused parts of spinning wheels. He has now shifted to selling lubricants and cans of petrol and diesel

Like other nearly 80 charkha-maker families in the village, Sant Singh, who is the third generation in the art, is now doing odd jobs to earn his livelihood in this non-descript village of Bathinda district.

The village that earlier was an icon of Punjab in the field of manufacture of the traditional charkha that is synonymous with Mahatma Gandhi (the Father of the nation), now lies in isolation as the youth has shifted to towns in search of gainful employment. The elderly ones have now shunned the job of charkha making and have either adopted carpentry or other jobs to keep themselves busy.

Sant Singh and another elderly person Joga Singh recall that earlier those engaged in the trade earned handsome money as a number of NRIs from abroad would carry with them as a souvenir the miniature version of the charkha while returning from India. However, now the number of NRIs coming to the village to purchase the charkha has reduced to a trickle.

Moreover, the charkha was earlier an integral part of dowry in Punjabi marriages and, as such, a good number of units were sold throughout the year, particularly during the marriage season. Sant Singh says that he sells only one or two charkhas in a year to NRIs, generally from Canada, who carry it as a showpiece. He says it is uneconomical to manufacture the charkha as the raw material is costly and it takes about seven days to produce a single unit.

Joga Singh and his brother Kulwant Singh have now turned to taking agriculture land on contract to cultivate the seasonal crop instead of charkha making, that is no more a lucrative business. Joga Singh says that the "rahuda" wood used for crafting the charkha has now become extinct. Earlier, it was brought from Rajasthan and Haryana, but now the species has disappeared as its fresh plantation is not being done because it takes a very long period to mature.

Harjinder Singh, whose family has been engaged in the tradition for the past over 70 years, has now turned to carpentry, while Gulzar Singh is working as a daily wage earner.Lachman Singh, whose forefathers used to manufacture high quality charkha, has now started selling lubricants and cans of petrol and diesel as there is no petroleum outlet in the village.

The villagers who had earned fame in charkha manufacturing rue that neither the state government, nor the Khadi and Village Industries Board has come forward to save the tradition.

They say that the art has been wiped out as the charkha is not being now used to spin yarn as mechanical looms have taken over. Charkha was helpful in spinning short-stapled cotton yarn.

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