Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): It’s like a Ghar Wapsi (homecoming), say the potters and ceramists who took part in the Potters’ Market - 2022 in the city, after a two-year gap due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “I have just posted on my Instagram account that I am feeling as if I am back home,” says Lidwin Mascarenhrs from Mumbai.
“Selling our wares is not our sole purpose. It is also to meet people and soak in the charming ambiance of Gauhar Mahal, fronting the Upper Lake. I was waiting so impatiently for this opportunity”, she told Free Press.
Another ceramist Sultana Khan from Mumbai, says that the atmosphere in the Potters’ Market was quite different from other such events held in different cities. “It is Sufiyana. We get to spend so many days with others in our field,” she says. Sultana said that the two years of the Covid-19 pandemic were ‘horrific’. “We could not meet anyone, could not go anywhere. It was very painful,” she says. Sultana has been participating in the event for the past ten years.
Similarly, Suresh Prajapati who has been taking part in the market for 10 years says that he can’t explain in words how he missed the Potters’ Market over the past two years. “We get new ideas here, we get new customers here and most importantly it is a thoroughly enjoyable experience,” he says. Suresh adds that in every potters’ market, there are presentations, sales, and designing but the Bhopal event is much more than that. “It is like a family reunion,” he says.
‘Gorgeous’ is the word Manpreet Singh Nishter from Hyderabad chooses to describe the ambiance at the Potters’ Market. “Saare potters market ek taraf, Bhopal ek taraf,” he says.
Rupali Samantha from Kolkata says she is feeling ‘great’ to be back. “It is such a joy seeing old friends after two years, which were very long and very tormenting,” she says.
