|
|
Abhijeet Chatterjee with his idol of goddess Saraswati in Dhanbad on Monday. Picture by Gautam Dey
|
Those who find it difficult to strike a balance between their professional obligations and giving vent to personal creativity can take a tip or two from Eastern Coalfields Limited’s accounts officer Abhijeet Chatterjee (49), who is busy giving final touches to an idol of goddess Saraswati he has made in his Dhanbad home.
Chatterjee, who has been making Saraswati idols for the last 34 years, has used straw and paddy as his raw material and the progress of BCCL as his theme.
“The goddess is shown seated on a chariot that is speeding ahead, symbolising BCCL’s progress which has come out of the purview of BIFR one-and-a-half years ahead of schedule and is headed towards getting mini ratna status,” said Chatterjee, who worked for BCCL for 22 years, before being transferred to Mugma of Eastern Coalfields Limited in 2012.
Chatterjee started work on the idol in November last year after he was transferred to Mugma, 40km from the district headquarters. “I find it difficult to get spare time as it takes around two hours to reach work at Mugma from Dhanbad and another two hours to return in the evening,” said Chatterjee, adding as he rarely gets time during the day to work on the idol, he works at night, sometimes till 3am. Now 90 per cent of the work is complete and the idol only needs finishing touches before Saraswati Puja on Friday.
“My family members — wife Saswati, mother Manju and father Kalyan — have helped me this year because of my transfer to ECL,” said Chatterjee, who holds a degree in journalism from Ranchi University.
The idol made of straw along with six other idols made by Chatterjee, made of wood dust in 2007, pearl in 2008, jute in 2009, soap in 2010, coal in 2011 and gamchha in 2012, would be displayed at Black Diamond Club in Koylanagar during Saraswati Puja. The BCCL officers wives’ association, Nari Shakti Samiti, organises the puja on the club premises every year.
“The height of the chariot made entirely of straw is around 6 feet while the idol is around four-feet-high,” said Chatterjee. Three to 4kg paddy has been used as well, though the idol maker has no idea how many kilos of straw has been used.
“Though I didn’t receive any training in idol-making, it was passion since childhood and I have been making Saraswati idols since my school days,” said Chatterjee. And such is his loyalty for his company that he also made an idol using coal in 2010.
|
