Shitalpati being a traditional household occupation in Cooch Behar among the cane weaving community, every child learns the art from a young age. Tagar too learnt the art from her parents and continued weaving through her school days and even after she got married. Her specialization is weaving ultra fine mats, for which she received her first award both at district and state levels when she was in her twenties. The fineness of a mat depends on the number of splits into which a cane is divided; the more the splits - a single cane can be split into as many as 25 strips - the finer the weave. 

Within a few years of her receiving her first award, Tagar also mastered the art of weaving motifs into a shitalpati, having trained under the master weaver, the late Narayan Chandra Deb of Ghugumari. Tagar has since also been weaving products other than just mats, like boxes, cases for mobile phones, purses and so on. 

Tagar is a well known figure in her community and she is the chief trainer in numerous workshops organised by the government in the district. She has taught nearly 400-500 students till date. Many of her students are traditional weavers from nearby villages, who come to learn new designs and product innovations at these training workshops, even though they have been traditionally trained in their own homes. People from other (non mat-weaving) communities also attend her training, to learn the art and hoping to benefit from the surge in popularity that this cottage industry has received.

 

Thanks to her skills and the recognition she has received, Tagar has established herself quite well and receives regular orders. She is able to sell wholesale and employs anything from 5 to 12 workers depending on the size of the orders. Her son, Sanjib Dey, also a three-time state awardee assists her.  Her husband, the late Madan Mohan Dey was also a state  awardee numerous times. However, she is not able to participate in fairs and exhibitions as she used to, given her poor health and the fact that there aren`t enough family members to help. 

 

Though she and her family have had their fair share of struggle in the past, she feels that the increased popularity of shitalpati has benefited the entire community. Thanks to country-wide government promotions and the diversification of the mat into manufacturing of shoes, bags, belts, folders, furniture etc, their dark days, she feels, are behind them. Tagar is proud of the fact that she has had several individual foreign customers who have appreciated her work - but laments the fact that there is no mechanism in place to encourage large scale direct marketing by artisans.

 

Tagar takes particular pride in the fact that even members of her own weaving community desire to buy her patis.