Picture by Bishwarup Dutta

Name: Kakoli Pal

Age: 32

Claim to fame: Pal is one of the few women artisans in Kumartuli who make Durga and other idols. While there are many women in Kumartuli who decorate idols, Pal shapes the gods and goddesses from clay. She is helped by her male assistants.

After the basic sculpting is done, she etches the face and the other features of the idols. Pal also lends a hand to decorating the idols.

Background: Pal is an artisan by compulsion. She joined the profession after the death of her husband Asim Pal five years ago. Before that she used to assist him by decorating the idols he sculpted.

Now, she herself makes all kinds of idols. The months before Puja are the most hectic. “At times I have to work till 3am. I try to do most of the work myself, so that I have to hire very few workers. It helps lower the cost of production.”

Pal has to travel a lot when she is working on the bigger idols. Due to lack of space, she is forced to make them at the organisers’ place. “I feel a little awkward sometimes since this is not conventionally a woman’s work,” she says.

Business basics: On an average, Pal makes 12 idols during Durga puja. They range from 5ft to 10ft in height. The orders come mostly from within the city. The hard labour fetches her hardly Rs 2,000 per month.

Work is on in full swing this year, though the puja is three months away. “I have started making idols of Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kartik and Ganesh. It becomes difficult to make all the idols together once the pressure starts mounting.”

Dual role: The mother of two has to juggle home and work. “I have to take care of my daughters, send them to school and do the household chores. I also have to keep an eye on the workers and ensure that they don’t run out of nail, wood and other materials,” says Pal.

Despite the hurdles, she enjoys her work and feels that her conviction is her strength. “If I am determined I can do any kind of work.”

Future plans : “I have enrolled Tanusree, my younger daughter, in an art school so that she can assist me when she grows up.”

Pal would also want to have a studio of her own some day.