Today in Goa artists are struggling to keep their traditional work of a family alive in many parts of Goa because of the lack of facilities and motivation from the government and the local authority.
And one such example is the Shetkar brothers of Mobati Bhat Quepem where they continue the business of making Ganesh idols. It has been handed down by their forefathers and in some parts of Goa, artists keep their traditional business alive, on their own shoulders. Since making Ganesh idols is a seasonal business which starts 4 months before Ganesh Chaturthi, Sushant Shetkar and his cousin brother Sunny Shetkar make the statues independently in their own houses. Sushant Shetkar said this business was started by his ancestors possibly 100 years ago and it came naturally to them. He said it was a lot of hard work, and to make the idol they needed clay which was not available easily. He said “Clay is also available in certain places but we use clay from Paroda, Cuncolim area but the local people do not allow us to remove clay. For the last two years they were getting clay from Old Goa and Kolhapur.” Workers would also come from Kolhapur but due to the pandemic, there was a shortage of labour. When asked if there were any schemes or facilities given by the concerned department of the local government, he said they did not get any schemes but the Rs 100 promised for each statue was still pending from last year. He said he made 170 statues and most were sold in the Quepem, Curchorem and Sanguem area.
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Sunny Shetkar said it was their family business and they were committed to their traditional business and they got much respect for it and they intended to continue it for years to come.
