Dharavi’s diya makers hope to see Deepavali light this year

Leaving behind the bitter times of the COVID-19 pandemic that had snuffed out their business, people in Kumbharwada are now racing to meet the festival demand

The earthen diya makers in Dharavi’s Kumbharwada hope to see the light of Deepavali after two bleak years. In the past years, strict COVID-19 lockdowns deprived the lamp makers in Asia's largest slum of any business. Things are looking up finally.

Working hard at the craft in the wiry lanes of the slum here are hundreds of artisans with high hopes. “We are working round the clock as there is a huge demand for diyas this year when compared to what we have sold during the lockdown. I don’t want to recollect the horrible days of lockdown when we didn’t even have money to buy a small biscuit packet, and sent wife and children to our hometown,” said Dhurpal, an artisan.

Artisans say that though the market is dominated by Chinese LED lights, demand for earthen lamps has seen a spike this year. “People are buying lamps in large numbers. Good for us, we can buy new clothes and sweets to celebrate the festival of light with fun. I have already painted my room,” said another artisan Rajesh Jethwa.

There are 800-odd families in Kumbharwada who migrated from Gujarat’s Saurashtra region over 100 years ago. Apart from lamps, the families make clay pots, pans, and other decorative items in the summer and winter. And during monsoons, they do odd jobs to eke out a living.

Each day, a group of two or three persons (family members) make 1,000 to 1,200 lamps each, and the number goes up depending on the work order. While both men and women equally work in making the diyas, women in the family paint them in exquisite colours. Some women buy lamps from the potters and decorate them before selling them in retail shops.

“I buy each lamp for ₹2 and colour and sell them to retail shop owners for ₹7 per pair,” said Meera Gotil, who was decorating the lamps with her 10-year-old son Kuldeep in a tiny room.

Though there is a huge demand this season, the unexpected rain is playing spoilsport. Artisans lamented that they were unable to meet the demand of the local market, due to heavy rainfall in the past few weeks.