Author: Gurdeep Dhaliwal

Anandpur used to be known for its traditional Punjabi shoe-making (Juttis), but now you won’t find any craftsman here. Daulat Singh, one such craftsman, was known all over Punjab. All these people have passed away now and their kids went to colleges, taking up new jobs.

I started this work fifty years ago. My parents used to make some random stuff at home and sell it, but the business wasn’t enough to keep things running smoothly. They put me in a school, while studying there I got interested in watchmaking.

We used to walk to a village, sit in front of a house and start playing the Been (wind instrument). Children and grown-ups would gather and ask us to perform with the snake. When we were done we would ask for a donation which most of the people made.

My father worked for the Delhi Transport Authority. My mother didn’t have a brother, her parents needed a boy to take care of the household. So, they took me in. I was brought to Nangal when I was three.

My parents used to work as a farm laborer until I was sixteen. They worked their way out and started cultivating land on contract. Every year we rent 2-3 acres, plant the seasonal crops along with the fodder for cattle.

I’ll (Sunil Kumar) show you a copper leaf, a customer from Patiala asked me to make. I’m sure if she tries to buy it from one of those fancy stores it will cost her four times what I’m selling it for. Small shopkeepers like us can make all sorts of objects with copper but we need customers for that and there are none here

This may seem easy but it takes a lot a time to make a sickle. First I’ve to flatten an iron bar by beating it with full force. Then inside an iron piece, I have to fit a steel inlay which also comes in a bar.

Tongs are what I make. It’s been 40 years, I started in my early teens. Our father used to work as a farm labourer, usually helping with moving bales, we also followed him. But when the labour opportunities started to drop, we turned to making tongs.

People know my worth in this town. They show their respect by calling me a professor or an artist. But what I do has a zero value in the market. All the craftsmen, who knew the art of carving patterns in wood and shading them, have passed away. I’m one of the last two artists left in the business

My father used to sit here earlier. I’ve been here for the last 20 years. He never let us help him with the work, instead, told us to go home and study. But when he passed away we had no alternative but to take over this profession.