Bihar, a home away from home for Marwaris

Snehil Jaiswal / TNN / Feb 2, 2006, 02:14 IST

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A family from Palli district in Udaipur, left their home some 15 years ago and has been earning a living in Patna.

Bihar, a home away from home for Marwaris

PATNA: Amidst the hue and cry that has always been raised about the lack of employment opportunities in the state, there is a chunk, albeit small, of people who, after leaving their state to adopt Bihar as their land, say they couldn't have asked for more from this state.
A family from Palli district in Udaipur, Rajasthan, left their home some 15 years ago and has been earning a living in Patna making statues and plaster of Paris (POP) ware.
"Bihar is the land of opportunities. It gave us what even our own state didn't give us," said Raj Bahadur, head of the family.
His wife, Mingni, gets goose pimples when she recalls the situation due to which the family had left their home 15 years back. "There was no water, no job, nothing that could give us a living," she said.

The family decided to move to Patna to fend for themselves, using statue-making skills that they'd learnt from their elders. Mingni, looking back and comparing her present condition with her earlier condition, confidently exuded, "Ab hum paisa kamaata hai. Ghar hai, naukar hai. (Now we earn money; we have a home, a servant)," while pointing towards 13-year-old Sunil, who the family has hired as a domestic help for Rs 600 a month.

The family owns a little "home" on Bailey Road where they are busy making Saraswati idols for Basant Panchami. Mingni's sister-in-law Anita, who was busy painting idols to be home delivered to customers the next day, has seen flowery dreams for her six-month-old son Puna.
"We'll educate him and make him a big shot. I'm already saving money for his education," she confided. Idols of Hindu gods, POP laces to be put up at the corners of ceilings, decorative POP rings to adorn ceiling fans and other POP ware are what the family claims to specialise in. "And we earn a good living as we are very reasonable. What we sell for Rs 100 is available at shops for Rs 600," said Raj Bahadur.
The family strongly believes that there can be no land better than Bihar, as it has given them a living. Raj Bahadur explained: "I don't understand why people are so upset with the state. There are so many untapped avenues. It's just that you need to be diligent and work rather than blame the state of affairs."
And it's not only homes that these "Marwaris", as they call themselves, directly cater to. Their art helps them provide a source of livelihood to other pot and statue sellers as well.
Arjun Ram, one such purchaser of their ware near the Income-tax roundabout, said these people are very good in their work. "Their art helps me also earn Rs 250 to 300 a day," he added.
So, if one wants to draw a lesson from this family of sculptors, one has to learn to carve out a niche wherever one is placed.
As Mingni put it, the essence of life is: Learn to mould situations according to one's need.

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