KAMALPUR, Sep 29 (TIWN): The cloudless blue sky, seasonal flowers and the soothing breeze of late autumn signifies the coming of the greatest festival of the Bengali Hindus on the earth.

The organizers, the potters as well as the commoners get busy in planning to enjoy the four days of great grand festival to the fullest. To the common people the saying of the almanac matters nothing as what result the Puja might bring in.

Everyone accepts that, the days of festivity would bring wealth, happiness, peace and prosperity in one way or the other. And hence a happy tune is found prevailing everywhere.

But amidst this happiness, a sad tune with a fear for the gloomy future prevails among the potters who perform one of the main roles of constructing clay images in this festivity.

Apart from the big budget Pujas of the capital city of Agartala or business hub of Kumarghat, the rest areas of the state experiences almost the same fate for the potters.

At Kamalpur sub-division at least hundred potters are busy in the trade. They express the gloomy fate of their trade with TIWN. All speak in almost the same tune. One of those struggling potters, Goutam Pal of South Manikbhandar airport area expresses the situation the best.

Goutam is a post graduate in History and completed his studies in 1996. But he remains deprived of government jobs and chooses pottery as his profession.

In this hereditary profession he earns a good name. But fame remains yet far away from him. He expresses that, the profession turns into a struggling trade now.

The raw materials like soil, hay and bamboo become scarce and their prices shot up alarmingly. Moreover, the dress materials and ornaments of the goddess also become costly.

Hence, the costing of the idol increases 15 to 20 percent than last year. But the organizers not increase their budget for idols to such extent. This year Goutam accepts fewer orders than last year for that reason of price hike. Again, the potters never get any financial aid from the government for resurrection of their trade.

In this context, the trade become a struggle for them. And in this situation, the next generations lose their interest in the trade. Other potters like Mintu Rudrapal of Fulchari, Ranajit Bhattacharjee of Fulchari, Benu Rudrapal of Shantirbazar speak in the same tune of despair and pain.

But, in the state of ‘golden era’ nobody seems keen enough to hear their pathos seriously and hence the potters’ journey towards gloomy days continues.