In yesteryear, when it came to purchasing good and long lasting furniture for a house, flat or bungalow, Goans knew exactly where to head. The serene village of Benaulim was home to a number of carpenters of fine craftsmanship who were available at every mile. Consumers had a varied choice to make with respect to type of wood, design and carving. At the same time, they could bargain for a better deal and be satisfied with a perfectly good hand-made product.
Fast forward a few years and the scenario has changed drastically. Some of those skilled craftsmen have passed on with no one there to carry on their age-old trade trade. Others may have given up the business for want of financial support from the government to sustain it. These carpenters would have wanted their kin to take over but due to education, several youth consider the trade beneath them.
As a result of the decline in skilled craftsmen, migrant carpenters from neighbouring states have filtered into Goa and taken undue advantage of the prevalent situation. They have filled the vacuum created by the absence of Goan craftsmen.
Today, furniture is available by the roadside in different villages. One needn’t place an order for a cupboard, a dining table or a bed. All that is needed to be done today, is to go to one of these makeshift sheds, bargain with the vendors and pick up furniture.
Taking a look at the villages of Goa Velha, Pilar and Agassaim, there are at least eight or nine such furniture sheds being operated by natives of Sharanpur, Uttar Pradesh. The lack of sale of their wooden products in their native place has forced them to migrate to Goa where their business now flourishes.
60-year-old Baba Sultan has been residing in Goa for the past 25 years. Earlier, he carried out his trade in Delhi, but as the business slipped, he decided to pack his bags and seek greener pastures in Goa. Today he is residing with his brother’s son, Rafiq Malik and assisting in carrying forward the business. “There is no compromise with regards to the type of wood used for the furniture,” he reveals, adding, “Most of the furniture prepared is of sheham or neem wood.”
Shakir Khan is another businessman from Sharanpur who has been selling his products from the same location for the past 13 years. “Due to poor salaries in my own hometown, I had to vacate the place and try my luck in Goa. Except for high demand of furniture goods when new constructions come up, there is not much sale of wooden products in the villages,” he says.
“But when popular festivals such as Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali or annual feasts pop up in cities, on those occasions ‘melas’ help us sell our products faster and do brisk business as people from different locations gather there,” Khan informs. “Instead of getting the raw wood from Sharanpur and preparing the furniture here, it is better to get it prepared there as the labour and material cost is high here,” he reiterates. Khan also mentions that several skilled carpenters from Sharanpur have migrated to Kerala as the demand there is constantly increasing, with a decent salary. “Besides demand in several states in India, extra-ordinary wooden products with fine carvings continue being exported to USA, Dubai and Japan from Uttar Pradesh annually,” he adds.
