Sweat rolls down Babloo Kumar’s gaunt cheeks as he descends from the 10-foot-high Ganesh idol. The humidity inside the poorly ventilated makeshift workshop has taken its toll. Working in a 12-hour shift, Babloo takes a much needed water-break but is soon back to work, polishing the plaster-of-paris idol.

The famous Ganesh Chaturti festival celebrations in Mumbai take place from 25 August till 5 September.

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Migrant workers like Babloo have been racing against time to meet deadlines of crafting the decorated idols, some of which tower tens of feet above ground. “With the kind of demand for the idols, there is no room for lapse or delay,” says Babloo, who along with 200 odd migrant workers plays a vital role in preparing the idols at Central Mumbai’s Parel workshop, one of the largest in the city. Around 400 500 idols are crafted at this workshop.

Though locals are also engaged in the work, two-third of idol makers are seasonal migrants from north India, like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Lacking proper housing amenities, the migrants have to endure dismal conditions as they sleep in the same sheds where they work. The nearest temple provides drinking water and they have to use rudimentary unkempt toilets.

“Sometimes it runs out of water. The stench is so strong we feel like running for miles,” says Babloo. However, seasonal idol making is a lucrative business in Mumbai. Ranging from Rs.400 to Rs.900 per day for the bulk of the labourers depending on how long they have been at this kind of work, daily wages are much higher than offered by the minimum wage schemes of the government back home. A few seasoned artisans command much higher rates, especially if they have made a name for themselves.

In fact, contractors often pay such “stars” high rates to keep them from being poached by other contractors. But this does not stop some of these veterans from offering their expertise to others on the sly. If found out, these lead to violent fights and lasting hostility. But for the lesser artisans, often opportunities can be found at multiple sheds since their work takes only five to seven hours at a time. Various works are paid differently – the ones who mix the plaster and straw earn less than those who do the major casting and finishing work.

The migrants are often subjected to physical abuse and exploitation. Labourer Deepak Kumar (23) says they are referred to as “Bhaiya”- a slur on their Hindi-belt identity- and their smallest of errors are magnified. While verbal abuse is common, physical attacks do take place, often with the smallest of triggers. “Our seth (contractor) tells us not to retaliate if a local assaults us as it might lead to repercussions and disruption of work. We have to bear all this for the sake of our families.” Since most of them don’t have identity cards and local references, bank accounts are difficult to get. “We send the money back home through our seths,” Deepak says.

Though an underlying feeling of mistrust exists, the migrant labourers and the local labourers share an amicable relationship built on a shared struggle for livelihood. Like other labour jobs, the migrants pick up the skills through apprenticeship. They typically spend their first season learning. Vikash Kumar (16) recently arrived from Bihar’s Vaishali district.

He quit his education in standard five. With his parents ill and four siblings to support, he had no option but to migrate. Like many, he has no land to till.

A dozen artisans from Kolkata have gathered at a tiny village, Tarakaturu in Krishna District to mould the clay brought from sacred river Ganga into lively Ganesh idols this season. Their exquisite skill in making clay idols is reflected on the each of the hundred idols on sale.

About 1,000 ecofriendly Ganesh idols are kept ready to be distributed among the government schools across the district, infusing the green concept into young minds.

But in most urban and satellite town workshops the demand for idols is high. Faced with tight deadlines, money crunch, moody labour and the high number of orders, most workshops make only plaster of Paris (POP) idols as these take less time. Space too is in short supply and so many of these temporary seasonal sheds insist on the buyers picking up the idols quickly and release much needed space. The main body made of POP is left to dry in the sun before the end protrusions like the hands trunk etc are added on. Pavements and public parks are encroached upon. For Sumit Pal of Kolkata and his family, Bollywood has been an indirect benefactor.

“Hindi movies have made Ganesh Puja glamorous. Suddenly, for the last few years, Ganesh Puja pandals have started coming up even in predominantly Bengali localities where it was never celebrated before. Now we are getting orders for Ganesh idols. The trend is spreading,” says Sumit glad at the new turn of events.

Like the idols of Durga and Kali, Ganesh idols too have to be made according to certain religious rules, he says. For instance, every part of a Ganesh idol and the proportion to the rest of the body and accessories has religious significance and is rarely tampered with, unless a specific order is placed for such. Often such orders come at prohibitive prices. But sometimes community clubs in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru are willing to pay the price for such breach of convention to be one up one other clubs. But this is not so in Kolkata where Ganesh Puja is not such a big affair yet.

Ganesh is also considered Lord of intellect and his body and his various tools and accessories are symbolic of that. Idols with two hands are considered to be inauspicious, so most artisans make a minimum four hands, to as many as 16 hands each holding a different symbolic object. Despite new challenges the Ganesh idol makers innovate year after year.

Most of the artisans borrow money from financers to procure material like bamboo, plaster of Paris, paints, iron etc., at high interest rate. Working as long as 20 hours to meet strangling deadlines in inhuman conditions, every season ends in a pile of debts and unrecovered dues. “We begin the season with a tiny idol that is not sold. It is our personal Ganesh as we hope to surmount the obstacles in our lives – poverty, illhealth and debt. But one Puja after another comes and goes, but for us life is an everyday challenge. It is like, although we struggle to bring the various Gods into other people’s lives, all the Gods have forgotten us,” laments Murari, who has migrated from Rajasthan to set up a shed on the Guntur highway, where he and 12 members of his family have been making idols for eight years.

Rising prices of raw material, stiff competition and increased labour wages is robbing families who are into the profession of idol making for several decades.

Till 10 years ago we managed to make about 50 per cent profits over the investment, now it is not so. We feel satisfied if we get 10 to 15 per cent and even that after chasing the clubs. Sometimes we get payments only before the next season”, says Shankar Singh from Shivanagar, Andhra Pradesh.

In the run up to the 11-day Ganesh festival many families staying in Mangalhat and Dhoolpet areas take up idol making.

“We start the work four months ahead and make around 100 idols of six to eight feet. All the family members including women chip in for the job otherwise we cannot save much money,” says Ashish Singh adding, “Despite it we are not able to earn much”.

Most of the artisans borrow money from financers. “There is no alternative for us but to approach small moneylenders. Banks and financial institutions are unwilling to offer loans,” says another artisan. The influx of artisans from central India has added to their woes. A few hundred idol makers have set up temporary sheds at Miyapur, Hayathnagar and Attapur near Hyderabad drawing huge crowds. “Earlier people from surrounding districts and city outskirts used to visit the Dhoolpet for buying the idols.

But now they are buying it at different locations robbing us of our business,” complains Surendar Singh, another artisan. Halfway through the season, community puja clubs visit the sheds placing orders for idols 14 to 20 feet high, each costing anything between Rs.40,000 and Rs.1,25,000. Clay idols cost at least three times as much hence most clubs go for the POP ones, even though environmentalists warn about the hazard of immersing a large number of these in the rivers and ponds.

Dhoolpet artisans are have made a name for their high level of artistry and well-made images. Also, many of them engage local priests to bless the workshop at the start of the season and advice them whenever they try to deviate from the standard designs.

“Here we are unlikely to get an inauspicious idol, so we always buy from here” says Hareesh from Narsaraopet as he zeroes in on a 6o-foot idol for his club and a two-foot one for his home. The idol-makers here have received orders from far off places like Vijayawada, Guntur, Nellore, Kurnool, Chittoor, Kadapa, Prakasam and Visakhapatnam. His reputation for beautiful idols is such that customers visit from Bangalore and Odisha. Another idol-maker Sunder Kalakar has sold around 30 idols to organisers in Rayalaseema, Visakapatnam and adjoining areas.

After the Ganesh festival, many move to other states to make idols for Dasera, Durga Puja and Diwali. But only those comfortable making clay idols manage to do business then since, POP idols find no buyers.

Many of these idol makers have now started migrating to other fields since traditional idol-making is no longer lucrative for most of them, “We make other decorative items and sell these at exhibitions. This brings us some money. But we continue to make at least a few idols every year, as we fear it might bring us bad luck if we abandoned the Gods altogether” says Radhey Gowr, adding “Even if we have been abandoned by the Gods we make.”