Blue fortune or fortune Blue

 

“Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.” said Voltaire basically screaming to us that maybe we are responsible for something unfair ? Maybe you are playing a part in someone’s dying excellence? And how is that, u might wonder.

Also very confusing right! what are we even talking about? There is no better justification to the situation created by us all for the legacies we are all so proud of. By the legacies, this is directed towards the elite crafts of India, those 116 Unique Handicrafts, all GI recognised. Something our country is known for. But here is a deeper darker picture behind it. Well, some writers have a knack of showing the lotus after the mud, personally I follow the principle. All smoke and mirrors and then through, so what is this blue? It generally resembles sadness or aloofness, Where as sometimes the same blue stands for imagination and sincerity, a promising value. The blue of darkness or the blue so bright, which one is it that fits well for our legacies and the people who keep them alive?

 

My dear readers in reference to the elite crafts of India I’ll be throwing light on the side we tend to ignore, starting with a lacking gratitude as a major problem, a lack of gratitude from the country that had roots deep down the lane of crafts, failing time and time again to provide for the people who put there blood and sweat in making something the society doesn’t value enough. How a pity-full image created by the modern world for the artisans had become the new face of handicraft, where despair and devastation stare India's artisans straight in their eyes, modern civilisation and government apathy combine in an onslaught on their teetering citadels. The lack of available data on the artisanal sector betrays the government's total apathy. Neither the National Income Accounts, published annually by the Central Statistical Organisation, nor the state-level data make any mention of the artisans' contribution to the gross domestic products. The dying life of these crafts and the craftsmen remain unpublished.The fact that there are now various new consumer goods which are mass produced and easily available in the markets that people have shifted their demand from crafts to these goods. India specifically has various forms of handicrafts, right from pottery, jute works to terracotta work varying from state to state. Though they are beautiful and have been passed on through the generations, it is rather sad that somehow over the years, with the advent of technology and fast lives, we have been unable to protect these crafts completely.

 

As for the artisanal industry, the only data available are the economic censuses of 1977 and 1980, as well as the data maintained or inferred by the DCH (development commissioner handicrafts). This Census data come from 47 industrial groups that "correspond" to the handicraft industry. As stated in the Eighth Five-Year Plan: The data do not conform to reality nor do they reflect the real situation of the industry. It is essential to carry out a comprehensive study of the country's crafts. Who is supposed to feed the people who have been working for dying crafts and fighting for their entire lives? Ironically, the way ancient crafts were handed down on the gold platter of the country with a long history, widely known for it’s rich and respected traditional crafts and craftsmanship to the artisans favouring these are now only numbered and if left unattended, they will soon be gone too. “It was a fortune blue once upon a time” and a blue fortune now. How the last left of whatever we have in the name of traditional heirlooms being poured upon the shoulders of the few left artisans who bare the burden and manages with the sheer will for there love towards the same keeps them alive and afloat, could be drowned in the history anytime soon. The economic slowdown is spreading too. The economic sectors and the handicraft industry will not remain isolated from it. These days, artisans need help. Previously, the government had supported them to participate in the Forhex Fair. But now they stopped supporting them for the reasons only they know best. Until recently, the nine-year exhibition attracted great interest from businesses and e-commerce companies in the country because it provided them with a variety of handicrafts that are particularly rich in examples of handicrafts in India. However, due to a lack of government support, rural artisans stayed away from the exhibition. “Rural artisans are people who maintain national artistic traditions through their crafts. If they are deprived of such a platform, the craft will not survive for long and they will be economically displaced. In order to promote artisans, the government buys exhibition space for them and, in some cases, also takes care of their travel and accommodation expenses. The Forhex fair is not the only victim of government indifference in recent years. Speaking of the state government, it also withdrew its support for the Vastra Expo. A large-scale fair organised by the government of Rajasthan. Industry insiders said that if the show is suspended, buyers' confidence in the show will decrease, and it will become difficult to attract buyers again. Since "Continuity is the key to maintaining the interests of buyers at the show."

 

Even if the government backs off there is still something we can do about the situation. Which simply is an act of humanity that we could lend them a hand or some support before it’s too late. Nope, this article is not asking u to buy or donate anything if that’s the thought that first appeared in your head. Instead its asking you to merely express the gratitude and how will that help if you ask. “Appreciation is powerful more than just money sometimes”, appreciation is the act of giving something or someone their proper value, and everybody has value. The value is important because it lets a person know where they stand, and what they mean to you; appreciation is a way of letting someone know what you value. By being grateful it does works wonders, it gives hope to the people who love what they do but are bound to give up. We can help just by showing our respect and spreading the same in the form of gratefulness for these people who keeps the traditions alive and shoulders the burden all on there own for our entire country.

 

Before the rich legacies becomes stories, be forgotten, be gone and be lost. That’s in our countries name and the traditions it passed down to us which are now being cornered by the modern world and the fast moving generations who doesn’t want to know about the holy ground they stand on and the roots there forefathers had. It’s a shame how a country so colourful could be seen covered in blue from an artisans view point. It depends on us how we take the situations further.

“So will it be a blue fortune or a fortune blue then?”