CHAMA THE VILLAGE POTTER
CHAMA THE VILLAGE POTTER..
Chama was the village potter. His duty was to supply a set of mud pots to all the house holders of the village. It was mandatory for his to supply new sets of pots during “Sankranthi” which used to fall during the month of January every year and during Deepavali which used to fall during late October or early November.
Other than these two periods whenever a lady gives birth to a child , or when there is some functions like marriage or death in the family the potter had to give a set of new mud pots as the old mud pots used to be destroyed during the above occasions.
For this service each married householder whether they are in the joint family or in case of married persons who had not yet brought his child bride(child marriage was very common) to the house were taken as a unit and they had to give certain quantity of paddy. No one objected to this practice. The quantity of paddy was about 40 litres per household and during festival times he used to be honoured with extra paddy. .During death in the family the potter used to supply some special pots and pans and for this also he used to receive extra quantity of paddy. After the harvest and during summer many of the ponds and shallow water tanks used to dry up. Before they dry up completely Chama used to collect mud from the sides of the tanks which used to contain lot of silt and clay and which he used to consider as suitable and which did not have plant waste and store it in his house. Other villagers were interested in the clay or mud with rotten vegetation and spread it in their fields as this is a good fertilizer to their fields. Chma had to collect the mud just before hot summber begins as then to collect mud sould be difficult. Usually Chama used to collect mor than sufficient mud for his needs. This mud used to be piled in heap and constantly it was kep wet by pouring water whenever the mud/clay started to dry up. After seasoning the mud he will pile small quantitites on the spinning wheel and make out the required shape. These utensils had to be dried in the sun and when they are sufficiently dry this will be charged into a crude furnace and burnt. For burning Chama used to collect all discarded straw waste dried thorns and dried cow dung which was available on the village road side and any other thing which will burn. After this burning was over he will collect the burnt product and store them in the bin. In addition to being a village potter Choma used to work in the fields when ever he was called for as a daily wager. I believe he was comfortable with his job.
Even though our father migrated to mysoe city long back and even though Choma had shifted his residence to a near by village which was at a higher ground after 1924 floods in cauvery he was still treated as the village potter and used to collect his dues. When I
cracked joke about this Choma said whenever I want the set of pots he will give it and deliver it at our ancestral house in the village (completely dilapidated and fallen to the ground and completely abandoned ) I jocularly told him as to why he should not deliver it at Mysore where we were staying now? For this his reply was that his duty is to deliver the pots and pans to the house at the village and not at Mysore as his domain is the village and his domain does not extend to Mysore . moreover it may come under different potter’s domain.
Gradually we sold all our lands in the villages as none of us were interested in the lands.. we lost touch with our ancestral village.
This is also due to the different land reforms act introduced by The Government.
Choma is no more and I do not know whether he had any children following this trade
Chama was the village potter. His duty was to supply a set of mud pots to all the house holders of the village. It was mandatory for his to supply new sets of pots during “Sankranthi” which used to fall during the month of January every year and during Deepavali which used to fall during late October or early November.
Other than these two periods whenever a lady gives birth to a child , or when there is some functions like marriage or death in the family the potter had to give a set of new mud pots as the old mud pots used to be destroyed during the above occasions.
For this service each married householder whether they are in the joint family or in case of married persons who had not yet brought his child bride(child marriage was very common) to the house were taken as a unit and they had to give certain quantity of paddy. No one objected to this practice. The quantity of paddy was about 40 litres per household and during festival times he used to be honoured with extra paddy. .During death in the family the potter used to supply some special pots and pans and for this also he used to receive extra quantity of paddy. After the harvest and during summer many of the ponds and shallow water tanks used to dry up. Before they dry up completely Chama used to collect mud from the sides of the tanks which used to contain lot of silt and clay and which he used to consider as suitable and which did not have plant waste and store it in his house. Other villagers were interested in the clay or mud with rotten vegetation and spread it in their fields as this is a good fertilizer to their fields. Chma had to collect the mud just before hot summber begins as then to collect mud sould be difficult. Usually Chama used to collect mor than sufficient mud for his needs. This mud used to be piled in heap and constantly it was kep wet by pouring water whenever the mud/clay started to dry up. After seasoning the mud he will pile small quantitites on the spinning wheel and make out the required shape. These utensils had to be dried in the sun and when they are sufficiently dry this will be charged into a crude furnace and burnt. For burning Chama used to collect all discarded straw waste dried thorns and dried cow dung which was available on the village road side and any other thing which will burn. After this burning was over he will collect the burnt product and store them in the bin. In addition to being a village potter Choma used to work in the fields when ever he was called for as a daily wager. I believe he was comfortable with his job.
Even though our father migrated to mysoe city long back and even though Choma had shifted his residence to a near by village which was at a higher ground after 1924 floods in cauvery he was still treated as the village potter and used to collect his dues. When I
cracked joke about this Choma said whenever I want the set of pots he will give it and deliver it at our ancestral house in the village (completely dilapidated and fallen to the ground and completely abandoned ) I jocularly told him as to why he should not deliver it at Mysore where we were staying now? For this his reply was that his duty is to deliver the pots and pans to the house at the village and not at Mysore as his domain is the village and his domain does not extend to Mysore . moreover it may come under different potter’s domain.
Gradually we sold all our lands in the villages as none of us were interested in the lands.. we lost touch with our ancestral village.
This is also due to the different land reforms act introduced by The Government.
Choma is no more and I do not know whether he had any children following this trade
posted by N.S.Char at 6:01 AM
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