Maharjan, however, smiles and modestly says “I don’t think that’s true.” He illustrates how he uses his hands to first get a measurement of older mana pathis and makes the new ones which amounts up to more or less the same quantity.[break]
The exact measurement of his mana paathis might be proven wrong but we are not a bit concerned with the “scientific” accuracy of its measurements. The bamboo containers he makes, without a doubt, are wonderful pieces of craftwork – a craftsmanship that only his hands have continued till now.
***
Pyangaon, typically a Newar village, used to be famous for articles made of Pyang or bamboo, apparently from which the gaon or village derives its name. Sadly, Purna Bahadur Maharjan, 75, is now the sole person who continues to make these bamboo goods.
The village, not far from Patan City, is semi-urbanized. But Maharjan’s traditional home, with a cowshed on the ground floor, old wooden stairs and ghopte (floor doors), seems untouched by urban airs. Up the creaking wooden stairs, a gathering of elderly folks and young children stare in bewilderment.
On introduction, the elderly faces beam into welcoming smiles whereas the look of bewilderment don’t leave the faces of the young ones.
“Hari Sharanam!” Purna recites and starts his work, while his wife and family members clear off to let him have his working space. His wrinkled hands move swiftly along as he pokes into the flattened wet bamboo strips with pointed metal tools and folds it into cylindrical shapes.
As he tightens the knot to hold the shape, he speaks in amazingly fluent Nepali, the smile not leaving his face.
“I was 12 when I first started making such bamboo goods.” He halts to puncture another hole and resumes, “As a young boy, I had nothing much to do. So when my father asked me to join him in his trips to the forest, I wasn’t going to back out of the adventure.”
So they would go into the forests of Lele and sometimes get as far as Makwanpur, Pyutar and Tistung to fetch bamboo.
“We’d stay overnight in the forests, cut and scrape bamboo. Once dried on fire, the bamboo softens up and we flatten them to thin strips.” This they carried all the way home.
He learnt to make bamboo containers from his father during one night in the wild. On the trips, they also bartered bamboo containers for food grains, potatoes and other commodities.
Within 20 minutes that he has been talking to us, Maharjan has completed weaving a small container. He now proceeds to make the lid and continues with the conversation.
“Back then, everybody knew how to make bamboo containers, and do a lot of other stuffs– making straw shoes, sukul (straw mats), carpentry, and a lot more.”
“He knew how to do all of that,” Asha Maya Maharjan, his wife, joins in the conversation, with equal fluency in Nepali.
Purna looks at her and smiles, then adds; “Now nobody wants to do it. My son won’t do it. My grandsons try it sometime, but they are too busy. An older grandson goes to study…”
“The younger grandson goes to play,” Asha adds and giggles.
***
Asha Maharjan, a lady from the neighborhood, informed us that many men from the village tried to learn the craft. But none did it as diligently. “They won’t learn – they’d rather sit around playing cards.”
Sarita Maharjan, a teacher, is actively involved in adult literacy program in the village. She encourages the village women to take up craftwork as a vocation.
“But we don’t have time to do that. We have children to take care of, chores to do in our house and in the field as well,” says Asha.
***
When asked if the earnings from selling his bamboo containers fulfills his basic needs, Purna replies “Chiya siya khanu sammalai pugchha (It’s enough to buy my cups of tea.)” After a pause, he adds, “Something’s better than nothing.”
With Rs 100 worth of bamboo cane and strips, he makes three mana paathis that he sells for Rs 300 each. But with all the efforts that go into firing and flattening the bamboo into strips and then making the containers, the earning seems barely sufficient.
Plus, there is practically no marketing. Some people contact him through references. “I occasionally get orders for bamboo momo steamers and that’s pretty good.”
Newa Décor, a new home décor store in Mangal Bazaar in Patan has taken an initiative of reintroducing these bamboo items.
“These bamboo articles have become like rare pieces. By marketing Purna Bajey’s products, we’ve tried to prevent it from going extinct,” says Urmila Malakar Shrestha, proprietor of Newa Décor.
***
Back then, Purna tells us, bamboo containers were very popular, especially with Vaidyas, traditional Ayurvedic physicians. They used them to store powdered medicines as they were reliably airtight.
“Even if you keep chyura (beaten rice) for 20 years in such a bamboo container with the lid on tight, it’ll still remain crisp,” he claims.
***
Clearing off his work, he stands up to fetch something from the top of an old cupboard. After fumbling for a while, he produces an old bamboo container, some 20 years old, he says. It has blackened due to dirt accumulated over the years. He scrapes the outer part and extends it over to us, with the humble smile lighting up his wrinkled face.
The scraped part reveals a beautiful copper reddish color, unlike the yellow green of the new ones. The piece of wonder has aged beautifully, masked by the soot of time.
“Hari Sharanam!” Purna chanted again, probably calling it a day.
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