26 May 2020  |   03:56am IST

MAKING MAGIC WITH BAMBOO

The bamboo craft may be on the decline, but this has not stopped Sambaji Mane and his wife Kamal Mane from the picturesque village of Guncoi Aldona in Bardez taluka from shying away from it like the present generation. Sambaji says he has been engaged in this craft for the past three decades just by watching his parents and following their footsteps.
MAKING MAGIC WITH BAMBOO

Joseph Fernandes

One of the age-old arts practiced in Goa is bamboo and crane craft introduced by the ‘Mahar’ community artisans, who produced ‘patlo’ (cane basket) for fishermen and farmers. Sambaji Mane along with his wife Kamal Mane from Aldona is engaged in bamboo craft since 30 years by following the parents’ footsteps. “My parents were making such products for past 50 years and now I am continuing the same along with my wife, who helps me in my work and this is how we earn our livelihood. As long as we can, we will continue with it”. 

Some of the items produced is ‘patlo’, a basket used for multi-purpose, which is still available in different sizes. The other products include ‘dalli’, a mat, which is used to store the dry grains and other food items. 

The craft of bamboo does not involve many tools. The main tool for this art is hacksaw or Dao. The complete stem of cane is given an insertion with this tool, which is then further split longitudinally into desired shapes and sizes by a bill hook (a tool with a long handle and a carved blade used for cutting off tree branches). Different knives are used in cutting the bamboo. 

Mane says, “We make these products and display them along the roadside and passers-by purchase them. Besides this, I have a band that performs at the Hindu weddings, palkis, and divjas”. The use of plastic items such as containers, bags and other products have made our life a lot easier to a great extent but little is known about its consequences on our environment.” 

“Most people use plastic containers these days. Hence, there is less demand for our products in the markets,” says Sambaji. “Bamboo products are slowly fading away with the latest new generation. As compared to earlier, fishermen and farmers used only products made from local bamboo,” Mane informed. 

Mane manages to get bamboos and is still engaged in the dying art. Goan weddings were incomplete without use of baskets and other items. 

The process of making these items appears simple, but it is no child’s play, Mane says and explains: “First we get the long bamboo and cut it short and thin. And then we further cut it into required pieces and then into thin slices. The width depends on the type of item we are making. Like a basket requires larger width than the bamboo container lid. After this we clean and shave it properly and sun-dry the same. We begin our work at 9 am in the scorching heat. 

Mane says today the youth are not interested in learning the traditional folk craft. “As a child, I always observed my parents do it. We made mistakes, but never gave up. We were dedicated to this craft, which was the only source of income. Nowadays, youth and children give more importance to white collared jobs, which is one of the reasons for decline in young bamboo artisans in Goa”.

GOA POSITIVE 

IN AN ATMOSPHERE OF GLOOM, THERE ARE A LOT OF POSITIVE THINGS HAP­PENING IN GOA. THIS ‘POSITIVE’ GIVES US HOPE IN THE TIME OF COVID. OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, WE WILL PICK OUT STORIES OF HOPE AND POSITIVITY AND PUBLISH THEM AS “GOA POSITIVE” STORIES. 

WE INVITE ALL OUR READERS TO CONTRIBUTE WITH THEIR IDEAS, OR IN­FORMATION OF SUCH POSITIVE STORIES IN THEIR VILLAGES AND NEIGHBOUR­HOOD, SO THAT WE CAN REPORT THOSE STORIES

IDhar UDHAR

Idhar Udhar