Rooted in Bonkapasi’s muddy waters and reaching global stages, Ashish Malakar gives a new shape to the ancient Sholapith craft with quiet mastery and boundless vision, says Subhra Mazumdar.
When the ring of his phone becomes annoyingly persistent, Sholapith artist Ashish Malakar considers it worthwhile to rise from his work bench in his studio upstairs to attend to the call. On the other hand, if a neighbour drops by, with a request for some neighbourly service, this art maker is undoubtedly, the first respondent. A long-term resident of village Bonkapasi, in the Burdwan district of West Bengal, his family, like generations of other Malakar craftsmen families here, have been making Sholapith items, for clients that range from villagers to national leaders, and in the case of Ashish Malakar, the delivery list for his craftmanship, goes way beyond our native shores. His desire to stay close to his roots and remain grounded to his art form, is what has made Ashish Malakar and his family a national luminary who has not just earned his art form of Sholapith craftsmanship a worldwide standing, but has been giving it national and international acclaim. At a time when the industry is undergoing challenges of material procurement and attendant problems of too many craftsmen regurgitating the same products with varying degrees of efficiency, master maker Ashish Malakar too, finds himself being engulfed into infrastructure and logistics challenges within his craft ambit.
But Ashish Malakar has risen above these seeming ‘formidables’. Despite the fact, the industry today, is facing the problem of overcrowding in the craft-making force and the lack of innovation and quality control, his family have refused to cower under pressure. That the family have been trailblazers, is evident from the rows of Awards and photographs all around, beginning with that of his late grandmother Ms Katyayini Devi, a National Awardee, in Sholapith craft of her time, followed by his late father, Aditya Malakar, who too, carried forward the tradition, going on to be honoured with the National Award in 1979 and 1990. He was also conferred the coveted title of ‘Shilpa Guru’ in 2018 and earlier in 2007. Ashish too, has earned for himself a distinguished track record by being conferred the National Award.
In addition, he has lent his services in an advisory and training capacity, to various government agencies, such as the Ministry of Culture’s autonomous body, the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training, (CCRT). Under this umbrella, he has undertaken bringing a group of talented and enthusiastic school children under his wing and instilled in them the basics of good quality Shola making artistry. Also, his services were regularly sought by the government’s erstwhile All India Handicrafts Board.
Wherever Ashish Malakar has engaged with his audiences he points out that Shola craft is mainly created from a humble aquatic reed, the Aeschynomene aspera of the family Leguminosae. There are two distinct types of cultivated Shola, namely the Bhat Shola (Aeschynomene aspera) and Kath Shola (Aeschynomene indica). Kath Shola is rather rigid and adamantine, while Bhat Shola or ‘phool Shola’ is light in weight, snug to the feel in the hands of the craft maker, and flocculent, having a loosely tufted texture.
For making the ideal craft product, these plants have to be plucked during the rains when they are between two-four feet in height. Wallowing in the muddy depths, Sholapith gatherers of the raw product identify the plant by recognizing its leaves which float in the murky waters and above the muddy surface. While the natural product from the muddied fields remains the go-to material source, many in its farming community have resorted to an alternative farming practice. According to Ashish Malakar, growers are inundating their fields after the regular harvest adequately, for commercial cultivation. This practice helps to increase cultivation and thus keep supply chains constant.
When the dry Shola bales are offered to buyers like Ashish Malakar, they are around two-four feet in length, and as many stalks as can be fitted into a two feet length of rope is considered to be one bundle of the raw material. Generally priced at Rs 500 for a bale, the work of artisans begins after the purchase is brought home, when Ashish sits down to splice each stalk to extricate the hard, stick-like central portion of each stalk. The furry exteriors of the raw stalks too, need to be carefully removed to reveal the snowy interior portion, which is then used by him for the craft. But being an innovator par excellence, Ashish Malakar is not satisfied with the age-old system of throwing away the core stalk and is now researching on using it for making other innovative crafts, in the near future.
Since these craftsmen are averse to using even the most rudimentary forms of mechanization, Ashish Malalkar visits nearby saw mills to buy discards of blades from these places. The broken blades are painstakingly sharpened by laying them on beds of sand, and rubbing incessantly with clusters of leaves from the ‘bel (wood apple)’ tree. Then when the blade reaches the required dimension of a two-inch width and a sixteen-inch length with a four inch length for holding, the tool is ready for use. Work begins for this craftsman as others, at 6 o’clock at daybreak and continues through the day, till ten, at night.
In fact, it is the interconnected nature of the industry, right from its growing cycle to the making of the finished product being located within the village /hometown precepts, that has made Ashish Malakar and his fellow craftsmen so wedded to their craft. A common belief about the ancestry of their craftmaking, dates back to prehistory. Legend has it that Shola artists had been engaged to create the wedding décor for the auspicious marriage of Lord Shiva to the goddess Parvati. Not only did these craftsmen show their prowess in decorating the pandal and surroundings, but they even made the garland (mala) that the Lord had worn, and exchanged, at the wedding. Thus for the makers of this celestial essential in a wedding ceremony, the term ‘mala’ became the origin of their chosen surname,’Malakar’.
Others in his village are of the view that their associations recall the time when Lord Krishna’s sudden darshan (appearance) had left Sudama bewildered and the Brahmins too, were caught off-guard. They were perplexed as to what they should give as an offering to the Lord. In desperation, they resorted to making a garland out of Shola which was then offered to Lord Krishna, who wrapped it around his waist as a ‘janeyu’.
While the raw product is entwined with folkloric charm, Ashish Malakar has taken his craft beyond Indian shores. His landmark offering is in homage to the goddess Kali, a giant four feet tall figure, standing on a 16 feet wide base. Another of his much-talked-of masterpieces is that of the entire Durga tradition of creating the mother goddess with her children in a 5 by 6 feet tall creation. This epitome of his creativity was exhibited at the Surajkund Crafts Mela in Haryana, and drew large crowds of admirers and inquisitive onlookers.
Beyond his innovative skills to present the craft into larger and more eye-catching moulds, Malakar has also been a fine ambassador of his craft to more than a dozen countries, ranging from nearby Singapore to the far-off shores of Guyana in South America. And it was his visits to Italy that were the most interactive, as craftsmen and the public had flooded him with queries as to how he could get such precise cuts without the use of any form of mechanization.
Nearer home, his works have caught the attention of craft masters, who have been impressed by the versatility of his execution. In the iconic Durga form placed at Delhi’s Pragati Maidan, what visitors found most astounding was the fact that Ashish Malakar had even crafted the strands of the goddess’ hair, the vestment, and other finery also with Shola. For his inquisitive audience he had explained how the Shola strips had been made into fine ‘sheets’ and then used for the requisite décor purpose.
Another important reference is the statue of Mahatma Gandhi that he had created for the Museum at Goa. “ It is a two feet tall structure, where the figure of the Mahatma is seen with a copy of the ‘Bhagwad Gita’ in his hand. It is a well-preserved item, and attracts comments from onlookers and visitors alike.
But the bulk of his work is still centred around the time of the Durga Puja, when requests for pandal décor and full models of the goddess are increasingly in demand. This outlet has given Malakar the opportunity to take his craft to the next level of innovation. A case in point is the Durga image that he had executed in Jalpaiguri…a 15 x 22 feet creation, that was conceived and executed as a holistic depiction of the legend. Not only were the forms created with befitting care but even the surrounding décor of the backdrop was given due attention, right down to the form of Narayan, created with iconic appropriateness, within the space.
Yet when pressed to pick his best-loved creation, Ashish Malakar prefers to include a specimen of his late father’s art, in place of his own. “It is the work that still hangs in Delhi’s Vigyan Bhavan by my father that is a true specimen of our craft form.” He takes pride in stressing that even today, the work has an evergreen quality and visitors can still stop and admire it on their visit to the place.
In his own capacity, he feels that the best way to place the craft form on more solid ground, is by taking it out of its narrow confines within the original space alone. A step taken by him, in that direction, is that of holding training camps for the youth, in schools and other designated craft centres. Instead of giving them only a one-off acquaintance with the craft, Ashish Malakar goes down to the basics of the craft and gives these young enthusiasts the joy of creating miracles’ with a humble stalk and a little imagination.
As to keeping up the family tradition, within the familial fold, Ashish Malakar has engaged his son as his assistant in the craft. While initially, his son was simply put to tasks such as pasting the cut-outs with precision, later, the father-son duo would be engaged in a critical assessment of the work. This exercise was never meant to be for fault-finding at all. As a father, I would ask myself whether I was right. Then I would ask him to find out where the fault lines in the making had appeared. We would then discuss corrective steps to be taken. Finally, these learning sessions always ended with a word of encouragement, making way for better output in future.” Such an approach for Ashish Malakar is not his personal innovation, he concedes. “I often recall the way my grandmother would draw me into her Shola making , silently and eking out the desired behaviour not by demanding, but by providing opportunities for observing and mimicking.”
A day in the studios of Ashish Malakar therefore, is time well spent. One not only sees the various forms in their differing stages of completion, but can also see his closeness with his craft. According to one of the many beliefs that circulate in the Malakar community, the human task of beautification can only be achieved through a prescribed path. Though it appears outwardly untidy and somewhat confusing during the making process, it gradually unfolds into a more authentic understanding of the craft, as one watches the intricate drawings take shape.
It leaves the viewer stupefied, but also forges a silent link between human hands and their craft-making dedication.
