Modelling a world of his own
It is a warren of narrow interconnected alleys lined with the makeshift studios of artisans huddled against each other with paper-thin walls separating them. This is the birthplace of myriad Hindu deities—Kumartuli, the gritty artisans’ district in north Kolkata, West Bengal. The images of gods and goddesses are daily fashioned out of clay by artisans who have lived here for generations.
Now that the Durga puja is only weeks ahead, Kumartuli is buzzing with activity and the studios are crammed with clay images ready to be painted, waiting for customers to arrive in droves. Jhulan, also known as Amit Paul, occupies one such tatty studio in Kumartuli’s Shilpi Nitai Pal Lane. It is a narrow strip of space, barely wide enough to accommodate Paul’s stock-in-trade.
Jhulan is no run-of-the mill Kumartuli artisan. His talents lie elsewhere. Like a magician he can shrink the larger-than-life images into thumbnail-size miniatures in low relief, every detail intact. And it’s not just deities. A recently finished clay portrait of President of India, Draupadi Murmu, peeps from a corner. It is the size of a biggish areca nut.
The folds of her cheeks and even her glasses have been recreated. “I will keep it this way. I am not going to paint this clay portrait unlike the ones of gods and goddesses. It is meant to be a piece of sculpture. If I paint it, it will be reduced to a toy,” says the artisan.
A swarthy man of slight build, Jhulan has sharp features and bright eyes. The remnants of a Mithun hairdo crown his head. He is 51 but looks older when he smiles. Hailing from Santipur in Nadia district, his family has made Kumartuli their workplace for five generations now. With the flourish of a showman, one by one, he produces boxes of various sizes in which he preserves his treasured wee creations.
One holds Goddess Durga presented en famille in low relief, but smaller than the palm of one’s hand. The microscopic features are clearly delineated and painted with a size zero paintbrush. Some of these wonders are small enough to fit a long-lost 10 paisa coin.
Jhulan is not a trained artist, but making clay icons comes naturally to him. No university degree was necessary to hone his natural-born talent. Using a small wooden spatula for modelling, he has created images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and former prime ministers Manmohan Singh and Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Mother Teresa, and a portrait of the football star Lionel Messi. He has not forgotten Kazi Nazrul Islam, Nelson Mandela, Aurobindo and Buddhadeb Bhattacharya either. In this motley crowd, even villains have found a place. His gallery of rogues features the portraits of Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussain.
His unique talent has earned him a place in the India Book of Record 2022. He proudly displays the certificate which includes his photograph. Why does he take the trouble of making these? With a quiet confidence born of faith in his capabilities he replies: “Because no one has done this before.”