Kolkata: More than 200 bell-metal artisans from Jangalmahal are not sure if they can return to their villages in Bankura before puja this year. These men from Lalbazar, Pukhuria, Magra and Lakhisagar villages, expert artisans of hand-hammered bell metal utensils and singing bowls for generations, travel to Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Bhaktapur and Pokhara to work every summer.
"My wife had not been able to contact me since Saturday," said Madan Mohan Karmakar (38) from Pukhuria village, who could make his first WhatsApp call on Wednesday. Karmakar, along with five others, are now stuck in a rented home in Bhaktapur. Madan has been travelling to Nepal since 2004. "I witnessed the 2006 Nepal revolution that led to the end of the monarchy as well as the 2015 earthquake. But this time is different as I am married with two children," he said.
Soumen, Sumanta, Biswajit, Bidu and Somnath, all from Lalbazar village, have been stuck in the Kathmandu workshop. "It's like Covid time. Work stopped four days ago. We are safe as a military camp is nearby," said Lalmohan Karmakar, a contractor who hired 35 men from Lalbazar. "Our villagers come to Nepal from March and return before puja," said Sontu Karmakar of Lalbazar Biswakarma Bell Metal Cluster Industrial Co-op Society.
Sripati and Suraj from Magra, stranded in Dharan, were to return home before Viswakarma Puja. "I pray for their quick return," said Rahul, their friend. —Sudipto Das