Orders galore for Bhola Pal who made Durga idol souvenir gifted by CM to UNESCO officials
Kolkata: Ever since Shyamal Pal (popularly known as Bhola Pal in Kumartuli) has created the Durga idol souvenir, which Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee presented to the representatives of UNESCO, the 60-year-old Kumartuli artisan has been flooded with phone calls and orders.
To express gratitude to UNESCO for recognising Kolkata's Durga Puja on the Intangible Cultural Heritage Representative list, Banerjee participated in a mammoth rally.
Post that, she gifted Tim Curtis, secretary of UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage and Eric Falt, UNESCO representative of New Delhi office with earthen Durga idols crafted by Pal. It's been a month but Pal's phone hasn't stopped ringing since then.
Almost everyday, he receives bulk orders to create similar models of Durga idols that were gifted to the UNESCO officials. But Pal needs to deliver the already booked ones, thus leaving him with no time to work on anything else.
"After CM Mamata Banerjee presented the Durga idol souvenirs to the UNESCO representatives, I have received plenty of offers. But I just could deliver one in Salt Lake. I need to finish my pending Durga Puja idols," said Pal.
Popularly known for making small-sized idols, Pal had a prototype of Durga idol ready, which he had shown to the officials of the Kolkata Forum. Given a go-ahead, it took five days for Pal to finish the souvenir.
Pal was at Salt Lake giving finishing touches to an idol when Banerjee handed over the Durga idol souvenir to the UNESCO representatives.
Later, he watched the entire event on Facebook. A photograph of the CM with the souvenir finds a proud place at his humble workshop in Kumartuli, Kolkata's potter neighbourhood.
Though there's an increasing demand of the souvenir now, given the lack of time, Pal has to let go of the orders.
"This kind of work requires extreme patience and hard work. Since I do not have enough number of labourers, I cannot take the orders now," he sighed.
However, Pal is pleased that his work has reached the chief minister and also a global platform through UNESCO.
