Last man standing

Manisha Gangahar

A random phone call from an ailing grandfather saved this 400-year-old craft. Abdul Gafur Khatri had left his sleepy Nirona village to find work in Ahmedabad and Mumbai, giving up an art that had always fascinated him as a child, but did not make commercial sense. “There was no money, no future,” reminisces Gafur Bhai, as he is fondly called, “but dadu winded me back to it”. Rogan kaam was, indeed, his calling! He returned to it first to help his grandfather complete a government project but then ended up promising him to keep it alive and make it thrive, even globally.

Today, the dusty, offbeat Nirona, about 40 km from Bhuj, is well marked on the tourist map, has its own season when travellers come looking for rogan handicrafts. “Rogan, which means oil-based in Persian, originated in Persia many centuries ago. How it came to India is a mystery but I know that it has been in our family for eight generations,” explains Gafur Bhai, ruminating about the past and the present, as he brings out the motif on the cloth pinned to his trousers.

There is no sketching to follow, no trace or drawing on the cloth, not even a stencil, but only the fertile imagination and the skilful movement of the hands to create an intricate motif. Gafur Bhai offers a visual treat: the metal rod is dipped in a regular namak daani that holds the concoction of paints, and without touching the fabric, the patient but amazingly swift free jig of the rod creates an array of floral pattern on the cloth, and the colours magically transform as the sequence lines up. 

With a subtle smile, and holding back his secrets of the skill, Gafur Bhai underscores the labour involved: “Preparing the base from castor oil is tedious, takes at least two days. Poured into a special vessel and stirred continuously, the residue left behind is mixed with cold water, natural colour pigments are added and the achieved thickened, sticky paste is called rogan…”

Twenty-two-year-old Sahil, who is from the youngest generation of the family to pick this art form, shares another bit of history: “Traditionally, it was the Maldhari community that practiced this art form in three villages of Hawrah, Chaubari and Nirona and rogan was done primarily on ghagras and odhanis. But due to its complexity, it became extremely difficult to sustain the practice and production of this art form and hence rogan kaam began to disappear.” Ask him if he is happy doing rogan or would he rather switch to another trade, he is quick to reply: “It is gratifying to carry forward a legacy.” It is hard to miss his direct commitment to the art. 

With Gafur Bhai being conferred a State Award and a National Award, rogan art has found another life. “I am so delighted to have fulfilled my promise to my grandfather when Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented my handmade rogan painting called ‘Tree of Life’ to American President Obama,” he adds with pride. For bringing rogan art to the mainstream, he gives credit to Crafts Village. “Through workshops, exhibitions and marketing assistance, the endeavour is to bring this rare traditional form of the country to the forefront” says Iti Tyagi, its founder.

On his part, Gafur Bhai has started offering training to young girls of the region in this craftsmanship and skill: “People would ask why no woman of the Khatri family does it, and I would try explaining that there were no returns in this as compared to other forms of art and they had so much already on their hands. But now I train many girls, free of cost.” While 200 girls in the region are earning from this art, 25 girls from Nirona are working with the Khatri family and making a sizable contribution to the art, worth preserving.