Vanishing vocations, Carpenters come from other states

Chennai: Friends are always complaining that carpenters have become scarce and that they have to really go searching before they can find one.

Gone are the days when we could get custom-made chairs and beds. Standardisation is the name of the game and most things are machine-made.

When I decided to do a bit of redecoration at home, the engineer brought in some carpenters to do the work.

Jeetendra, it turned out, was a carpenter from Bihar. Another was from Jharkhand.

There were hardly any from Tamil Nadu. Jeetendra belongs to the Badhai community, one of the subcastes of the Vishwakarma caste.

Vishwakarma in Hindu mythology was the architect of the gods. Vishwakarma is said to have constructed the holy city of Dwaraka where Lord Krishna resided. Vishwakarma is also known as the divine carpenter and sometimes even as the divine engineer.

Badhais are called asaris in Tamil Nadu. I have watched our asaris at work and their skills are amazing. With a pencil tucked behind their ears, they measure, mark, plane and chisel with great ease. When I watched Jeetendra at work, his skill definitely seemed divine. He was doing amazing work with his simple tools—a cut with his ‘uli’ and hammer and he had a perfect mortise joint.

A cupboard took shape right before my eyes with what seemed like very little effort. So sure was Jeetendra of his moves.

But lo, most of the asaris in Tamil Nadu do not want their children to become carpenters. So we end up getting them from other states. In a few years there will be no carpenters to get from anywhere. What is it about our society that we do not value these skills. Ivan Illich wrote about de-schooling society. I wish somebody would do a serious study in India regarding the de-skilling of society that is taking place.

We no longer have carpenters, blacksmiths, brass vessel makers or potters like we did even a decade ago. I paid and hardly recognised, these artisans have moved their children into trades that promised more money or prestige, even into petty jobs in the government sector or trade.

What can we expect when those who make the most money are investment bankers who do high class gambling? Jeetendra has two siblings, both of whom are carpenters as were his forefathers before him and if he is lucky, he says, his children will work in the government.