KUMAR (potter) also known in Bangla as kumbhakar, is a traditional occupational group engaged in clay modelling and making earthenwares and various household items and toys from clay. Kumar is a caste name, which indicates that pottery as a profession was almost exclusively in the hands of Hindus in the past. The innumerable domestic wares prepared by kumars include kalshi (household water vessel), handi (cooking pot), jala (big water jar), shara/dhakna (pot covers), shanki (dish), sharai (jug), plates, cups, badna (water pot) and dhupdani (vessel for scented sulphur). Clay made toys and clay fruits like palm, banana, jackfruit or mango, are popular sale items in traditional Bangladeshi fairs and festivals.  - BANGLAPEDIA

 

POTTERY: The Rhythm of the Hand

by ASHIK MASUD    

Continuously circulating human life is not that easy to explicate through literature. Life goes on in its own way. Motionless life will be mingled up with the clay. Motivation in life enhances the hope to live and breathe for future. Otherwise our life is nothing but a mist of suffocation. The hands working with the clay are the hands also struggling with the nasty rude world. But life goes on! Nothing can stop it. The hands now playing with the clay are actually playing with the eternal lives. Life goes on, life is endless! Life is circulating continuously!

I visited Paul Para, Shimulia, Savar twice. The first time was on 31 January 2009 with some of my photographer friends and then again on  4th of April, 2009 by myself. These photographs were taken there while the potters were making clay-pots with the creative touch of their experienced hands to uphold their forefather’s culture.

In our everyday life we use many of the household items which are made by these potters. But we never take the time to appreciate their hard work or even to think how they are making these things day after day for us. They make most of these pots with their bare hands. They also take the help of a revolving wheel,  which is made of wood or metal, to make these pots into different shapes and designs. The potter throws the kneaded clay into the center of the wheel rounding it off, and then spins the wheel. As the whirling gathers momentum, the potter begins to shape the clay. When it is over he severs the shaped clay from the rest.

About Me   Being a photographer was a dream I kept inside me for many years. While travelling to many places throughout my life and experiencing other cultures and meeting people from different communities, places and coutries, the desire to be a photographer grew inside me day by day. I started taking pictures from about a year back and have so far successfully established my name in the photography arena of Bangladesh by meeting with some great photographic societies. I feel the places of Bangladesh and the faces of Bangladeshi people forced out my inner craving to become a photographer. All the people I have met, smiling through my viewfinder, always gave me the feeling of satisfaction and inspired me to go on and on in this field. 

My first love is people’s lives. People are very difficult to photograph. I have a hard time taking candid shots of people, but I try my best to build up the courage from time to time. I try to capture human emotions and human spirits. I also enjoy traveling, so that I can take pictures of other locations. Basically, I’m a self-taught photographer living in Dhaka, Bangladesh. By profession I am a web developer and, besides being a photographer, I also love music and in my leasure time I love to play the guitar. 

All photographs are copyright of ASHIK MASUD.
To view more of ASHIK MASUD‘s photographs, visit his Flickr Photostream here.

 

 

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CREDITS
images: all photographs are copyright of ASHIK MASUD.
text: Ashik Masud for creativeBangladesh.
graphic design & layout: Labiba Ali for creativeBangladesh.

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