Seventy year old Dhiren Karmakar is a master artisan and state awardee who has been passionately crafting dhokra (dokra) masterpieces for over fifty years. In spite of his age, his passion and energy for his craft and for learning is boundless. He started learning the basics as a young lad of 12 and did not attend school beyond class two. Observing that his father, Shombhu Karmakar, who suffered from weak lungs, often struggling in front of the furnace, Dhiren was determined to master the craft as soon as possible. He was completely self taught. 

He would at first steal small quantities of resin and secretly attempt to replicate his father’s work, hidden away from prying eyes in a garden nearby. By constantly observing and being a fast learner, he was soon able to grasp the rudiments of the craft, learning to make small figures of Lakshmi Saaj (Lakshmi and Narayan on an elephant), her owl, fish, birds. He learnt to make these shapes by again helping himself to some of the cores his father had made. He would place a layer of mud over these shapes and keep practising until he perfected the model.  He then tried to replicate the casting with small bits of brass, again pilfered from his father. His father finally got suspicious. Following Dhiren quietly one day to the garden, he was finally made aware of what his son had been up to instead of attending school. 

Perhaps he was glad of it, because his health did not really permit him to work in the conditions that the craft demanded. From that day on, Dhiren became his apprentice, though for a short while, since Shombhu was compelled to stop working. His mother, Bilasi, being an artisan herself, took on the mantle of encouraging him. She would make the cores while Dhiren would skillfully execute the wax designs. He was about 14 at the time and living in Rampur, with about 10-12 other families. He was one of the first artisans to move to Bikna in 1970 when he was 16.

These were times when the artisans would travel on foot, moving from one village to the other, selling their wares. It was no different for young Dhiren. To make ends meet, he decided to focus on selling rather than crafting. With a basketful of Lakshmi Saaj, owls, pigeons and other dhokra figurines balanced on his head, that he had bought from others, he would venture as far as Purulia, selling to rural customers, calling out the names of the wares he was selling as he walked down the dusty lanes.  As he called out "Lokkhi-Saaj" in a sing song voice, Hindu housewives would summon him. A lot of bargaining would take place, and he would eventually sell several pieces for Rs 40 or Rs 50 each. By this time, his mother too had taken ill and it fell on young Dhiren to look after his family: selling during the day, and cooking and caring for his parents. He did this for a couple of years hoping to save a decent amount of money for himself. Seeing his hardship, his parents compelled him to take a wife when he was 20. 

It was around this time he resumed practising his craft. One day, quite by chance, the co-operative office gave him an order, since his father was a member of the co-operative, but no longer practicing. Tentatively, Dhiren accepted the order, successfully crafted ten Durga masks and he has not looked back since. His skill and mastery soon became known and while masks of any kind became his forte for a while, any special order invariably found its way to him. 

He relates a story of how the Regional Design Centre at Calcutta had ordered 7000 owls and elephants, based on a design they had created, but had been rejecting, one after the other, the efforts of at least 15 artisans  of Bikna. Finally, the director of the Centre, Mr Prabhas Sen summoned Dhiren and asked him to try his hand. With his keen eye, Dhiren easily understood the complexities of the design given and his sample met with instant approval. 

His fame as a master artist spread and crafts made by him were much in demand, especially among the urban aficionados.  He remembers how in 1988 he had once crafted pitcher designed intricately with the story of Behula and Lakkhindar from the Manasa Mangal. This simultaneously won top awards at the district, state and national levels! With his renown as a master artist, he has conducted workshops across the state, Bangalore and various other cities. He was even persuaded to spend 12 years in Ranchi, Jharkhand too, conducting in-depth training programmes. 

 

His four sons and grandsons have learnt their craft from him and are skilled artisans. Anybody who is interested is welcome to learn from him. His enthusiasm remains unabated, as he shows us his vast collection of designs and though his health is indifferent sometimes, Dhiren is far from laying his tools to rest.