Yes, I am fully aware of the fact that nothing lives forever. The second law of Thermodynamics quite clearly indicates that the universe will perish as it attains a state of maximum entropy, devoid of any gradient needed to sustain information processing, one form of which is life. In what way that happens, will ultimately depend upon the shape and the amount of dark energy in the universe. But then, that event is trillions of years away.

On the other hand, theological cosmogony, particularly the Vedic time scale mentions a cyclic timeline that repeats itself forever, fundamentally divided into the four Yugas and then Manvantaras and Kalpas, ultimately culminating itself with the dissolution of Lord Brahma into the Para Brahm. This doctrine also attempts to describe the history of human evolution.

Now, in modern times, the prevailing theory of Survival of the Fittest explains that human beings are a result of the gradual evolution process starting from single-cell organisms. But the Four Yuga system speaks of the declining journey of human beings across the ages. Kali Yuga, the contemporary Yuga, is described as a time when human civilization degenerates spiritually. Common attributes and consequences mentioned about this Yuga are spiritual bankruptcy, mindless hedonism, breakdown of all social structure, greed, materialism, unrestricted egotism, afflictions and maladies of mind and body.

Personally, I have never paid serious heed to these principles. Like I mentioned earlier, I am an optimistic futurist. I think the best days of humanity are well ahead of us. A time where we employ our intelligence, intuition, wisdom and our mastery over technology to create an utopia, colonising worlds, seeding them with life, undertaking engineering at planetary or stellar scales, building Dyson Spheres, Alderson Disks and Matrioshka Brains. As optimistic as I am, I also never expected this fantastic journey to be smooth and rapid. I knew it would take thousands of years and is ultimately a subject to our triumph over some occasional but nonetheless potent hurdles that threaten to end our civilisation like nuclear or biological warfare, cosmic extinction events, the threat of artificial intelligence etc. but the same optimism in me has led me to believe that these hurdles are mere technological challenges, which will be overcome by our ingenuity, resilience and the exponential growth of our technological proficiency over time.

However, in the past few days, a certain prediction about the current era, from various theological perspectives has caught my attention. The aforementioned prediction about humanity’s spiritual degradation. We might be able to fight most of our existential threats with technology but can we overcome spiritual degradation with the same optimistic attitude and technology as a weapon in our arsenal? Are we, as I speak, gradually witnessing the same decline in human civilization mentioned in our Vedic doctrine of time? For instance, some of the narratives of Kali Yuga, mentioned in the scriptures refer to a time when avarice and wrath are common and humans openly display animosity towards each other.

Truthfulness, cleanliness, tolerance and mercy diminish with each passing day. People cultivate thoughts of murder with no justification and feel no remorse. Lust is viewed as socially acceptable and sex is seen as the central requirement of life. Virtue fades way and ceases to flourish. People become addicted to intoxicating drinks and drugs and no longer get married, rather choosing to live with each other just for sexual pleasure. Weather and the environment degrade with time bringing infrequent and unpredictable rain. Diseases and fake ideologies spread throughout the world and the powerful dominate the poor. One glance into the world today and it’s quite easy to observe the kind of spiritual degradation being talked about in those scriptures. We’ve achieved wonders with our mastery over technology but does our journey and growth in the spiritual realm need introspection and scrutiny? Has our species declined in virtue? Are we unknowingly plummeting into this demonic illusion of greed, lust, malice and jealousy? People are being killed for petty reasons, there exist unimaginable divisions between the rich and the poor. The sanctity of relationships is gone, replaced with lust and social utility. Are we becoming way too practical and logical for our own good? Was my optimism and pragmatic approach about the future in vain?

For many of us, these questions might seem to be of the rhetorical kind, designed to tap into our personal insecurities but I honestly think it’s time to stop, pull over for a while and introspect, whether we’re travelling in the path we ought to be and doing something that culminates into the greater good or tumbling into a future that begets a fiery cataclysm of destruction.

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The art and handicrafts sector is the second largest employment generator after agriculture. According to the 2011 Census, there are over 68 lakh artisans in the country, of which 55 per cent of them are women.

A Tradition Since and For Ages 

India, among other things, is known for her soft power. This soft power stems from our very own civilisation, the Indus. The Indus Valley civilisation is witness to a diverse variety of artisanship. Ancient cities of Chanhudaro (present-day Pakistan), Kalibangan, famous for bangle making (Present-day Rajasthan ) among others were famous for crafts ranging from bead, bangle, pot and seal making. Produce from Indus Valley was exported to far lands of Afghanistan, Oman, Mesopotamia, and this brought in gold and silver in a fairly good amount to the Indus. When we use the word ‘Indian’ before artisanship, we refer to the tradition of thousands of years, we refer to Bandhej from Rajasthan, Pashmina shawls from Kashmir, wooden toys from Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Punjab, pottery from Uttar Pradesh in orange, brown and dark red to black and dark red in Himachal Pradesh (owning to its heritage to Indus Valley ). The blue pottery of  Jaipur adorns our rooms till date but the larger question is, despite India’s roots submerged in artisanship for ages, why do our artisans not receive the credit they deserve? Why do they live a life of penury? We will look at the reasons why. 

A Change in the Attitude of Buyers Post Globalisation

With the age of globalisation, the world is moving at an ever speedy pace. Most of us have secluded ourselves to the urban-mall-going fancies of life, not that it is wrong but it is an attitudinal problem where we refrain to stop our vehicle for a few minutes to acknowledge the products made by an artisan standing at a stall all day for a few hundred rupees. The same middle and upper-middle-class do not refrain to buy the same product at a much higher price in an expensive shopping complex. This move is not just that of convenience, rather it is important to ask the question, why was there an artisan, a craftsman standing on the street in the first place? If they had a choice, would they still sell their craft on the streets?

Competition with Machine-Made Goods

Companies solely work for profit-making and this zest for profit-making has put many artisans out of work. It takes hours to make a pot or put beads in a zardozi saree on the contrary, machine-made fabric is easier to make, considering, the same fabric is manufactured in thousands of pieces in a single day. The gap between machine made and hand made goods is hard to bridge, but with measures like save our artisans’ campaign, putting active pressure on famous clothing brands to employ to fulfil their corporate sector responsibility (CSR) in promoting rural artisans and creating social media presence for artisans to sell their produce depending on the changing taste and preference for the consumers might just help bridge the gap. 

Lack of Incentives for the Youth 

Most artisans believe that the current generation is uninterested in handicraft due to lack of recognition and monitory value, Easier alternatives, strenuous work hours, etc. Most artisans are found reluctant to have their children follow their steps as they don’t believe there’s a  bright future in the line of artisanship. With an increase in the educational base, the unwillingness to work in a line of uncertainty increases. This may be one of the very serious challenges to the present-day state of artisans.

Infrastructural Bottlenecks

Most artisans are on the belief that lack of infrastructural facilities retard the growth of the handicraft industry and the same number of respondents have to face grumble from the customers concerning the quality and durability of handcrafted products. The types of equipment used to make the products are mostly outdated and time-consuming, this not only limits the number of products an artisan can make in a day but also impacts the quality of the product made. 

Change in Taste and Preferences of Consumers 

We must note here that change is the law of nature and today’s generation is fast changing. Hence, only those who can accept change with time can survive in today’s day and age. Thus, artisans must be trained to deliver quality products that after the demands of today’s market. Now we will discuss the steps taken to uplift artisans in the country. 

Handicrafts constitute a huge part of the unorganised sector. They’ve sustained through globalisation and continue to be in demand in the foreign market. However, the artisan who works in his/her/their vicinity or it migrates to another city, hardly gets enough to sustain their livelihood. Women constitute 55% of the workforce who largely remain aloof from the organised sector drowned under the burden of dual responsibility, one at home and the other without any social security. To solve this issue, several steps are taken. Some of them are as follows-

Research and Development Scheme 

 The scheme is formulated based on evaluation and research conducted by the governmental, research and developmental team. The following initiative was introduced to receive feedback on economic, social and promotional aspects of various crafts and artisans in the sector. Surveys are conducted on certain specific crafts on which there is no substantial information available, regarding problems to availability of raw materials, technology, and more.

Marketing Support and Assistance to Artisans 

Under this scheme marketing support is provided to artisans to help them participate in melas and marketing events in India and abroad, buyer-seller meets are organised to help the artisan get the link needed to showcase the talent. Financial assistance is further provided to hep participate in marketing events in foreign lands, cultural exchange programs during craft exposure programs. The purpose of the initiative is to form a link between an artisan at home to the global market and provide the financial assistance required to fulfil the desired goal. 

Ambedkar Hastshilp Vikas Yojana (AHVY)

The programme mainly focuses on community empowerment. Under the scheme, artisans are motivated to join Self-help groups (SHG’s). After this, the implementing agency will be responsible for further assistance and reform required for the same. A 25-day workshop is the highlight of Ambedkar hastshilp Vikas Yojana. In the workshop, artisans will be provided with training to create new prototypes to suit the changing taste and preference of the consumers, this will make artisans reach bigger markets at home and abroad. However, the larger question is what more needs to be done to uplift artisans from the life of penury?

• The most important aspects of inclusive development is social security, the government must ensure social security by the Ministry of Rural Development. The ministry needs to ensure that there are enough subsistence facilities available to the artisans on the ground and for their families.
• Estimation of raw material requirement, over 32 major craft categories use diverse types of raw materials. While most of the natural resource-based raw materials are locally available, over the years the reserves have been depleting largely due to lack of sustainable utilisation. To overcome the issue of cost competitiveness it is important to undertake bulk procurement through raw material bank scheme under AHVY. 
• We need to study the characteristics of the kind of loans demanded by artisans and provide for them accordingly. According to a report of NITI Aayog, most artisans require short term loans, mostly ranging for 1 to 6 months, credit requirement per artisan amounts to Rs. 0.15 lakhs, the need of the hour is easy credit, regional rural banks, cooperative banks and post office banks must ensure easy credit at customary rates to the customers so that artisans don’t have to depend on money lenders and fall in the debt trap.  
• Use of social media and NGO’s, social media provides a platform to every artist. If you have a talent, and you can showcase it to the world through social media and earn both respect and income. NGO’s in this regard must provide the necessary knowledge of social media once the digital divide is dismantled. With over 560 million internet users in the country, we are slowly but getting on the other side of the digital divide and there’s no better way to instantly become closer to a world that is appreciative of your craft and at the same time ensures you steady income. 
• Attitudinal change is extremely important. We often associate occupations with certain castes and attach prejudices with it. This not only hampers our overall development as informed individuals but also attaches a stigma concerning occupations. This attitudinal change will only come when schools and colleges sensitise young students on issues of caste prejudices, gender typing of roles among others. The emphasis on vocational studies cannot be emphasised further, students must be encouraged to learn at least one craft in their school lives, this will not only help them become in the touch of their creative side but also prepare them for a world where academic excellence is equally valued to craft. 

One must remember words of Leo Tolstoy,

“Art is not a handicraft it is a transmission of feeling the life has experienced” 

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