A mad cng rickshaw journey gave little time for reflection about Dhaka, I had arrived 26 days ago as the city was preparing for the dark. The journey in log jammed traffic had taken 2hrs, this morning as the haze of pollution still lingers like a morning mist, it takes only half an hour. When we had arrived at the airport nearly a month ago, we had heard the evening call to prayer – I leave now in the dawn, as the city starts to move. Things in Dhaka don’t seem to stop, people sweep the dust in the streets left by the construction lorries, spinning it up in the air only for it to descend somewhere else. One thing that I will not miss about Dhaka is the thin grey film of dust which falls silently and coats everything – the bath, the sink, clothes, the floor. Whilst the pollution is bad here, Bangladesh has taken bigger steps than some; plastic bags are banned and natural gas powered vehicles are much more common than in the UK, all rickshaws in the cities are CNG powered.
The journey to the airport was relatively quiet, just the occassional horn, a thing I will not miss is the constancy of their noise here too.
Some of the sounds were amazing to hear, experiencing a city wake with the ripples of song, the men calling for alms on a Friday, the musical rhythm of the metalworkers hammering, the tinkle of the rickshaw bells. Bangladesh gets into all of your senses.
Dhaka - Delhi, Dehli - Mumbai, Mumbai - Ahmedabad.
We fly out over the top of the National Assembly Building, the Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban and head out to roughly follow the line of the river Ganges, passing between Patna and Varanasi with a glimpse of Kathmandu and the Himalayas peaking through the clouds in the distance.
The Ganges river had been used by the East India Company as a main trade route for shipping goods from across India to the coast via Kolkata (Calcutta), and then out into the Bay of Bengal and off to markets across the seas. For Hindus the Ganges is the holiest of all rivers. It is central to the history of the Indian subcontinent.
"The Ganges, above all is the river of India, which has held India's heart captive and drawn uncounted millions to her banks since the dawn of history. The story of the Ganges, from her source to the sea, from old times to new, is the story of India's civilization and culture, of the rise and fall of empires, of great and proud cities, of adventures of man…". Nehru: 'The Discovery of India'.
As the plane moves towards Dehli, the land below becomes a patchwork of fields.
Near Mumbai there are stunning mountains.
I liked the patterns, lines and markings on the runways.
It feels odd, now, sitting at Mumbai airport, waiting for my third flight of the day to Ahmedabad, I am surrounded by tourists of all ages and origins. Having spent the last 26 days seeing only approximately 10 other ‘white’ westerners and at times feeling like the oddity, its feels comforting to be able to disappear and blend into the background. Britto have helped us to see beyond the tourist and to get inside a tiny bit of Bangladesh, to see the exciting and culturally intense aspects of that country, to see the things that make them as artists 'tick' to see the things and share what inspires.
I land in Ahmedabad, Gujarat and I'm met by 'Jonny' owner of Ahmedabad Travel, a tour guide company and friend of Arts Reverie. He takes me to Dhal ne Pol, he talks of the mad traffic and how busy and hectic it is on the roads. We pass several of the cities gates. I feel overwhelmed by the idea of further visual and cultural stimulas. The roads seem relatively calm and empty compared to Dhaka. I'm in India!
On the platform someone had a wonderful bag/ basket made from packaging, layered together like papier mache.
As we headed back to Dhaka much of the land we passed through had once been forest, areas have been cleared both for their timber and for tea and rice production.
I had come across images and information in Shawon's book on a small hamlet where the men used a process of collaborative hammer-working to produce brass, bronze and bell metal products. I wanted to see and learn more.
Tushil and I made our way across many fields to get to the small hamlet. There are now only two workshops here, both producing metalwork and using similar processes. When Shawon wrote his book there were around 5 workshops. In an interview with one of the workshop owners he recalls there were once twenty in the village.
These discs are made into school gongs, temple gongs, ritual dishes or engraved trays for the home/ tourist market.
To get the discs the men cast a brass or bronze 'bell-metal' mix called 'pitol', from scrap. The molten metal is poured into an open shallow mold to make a flat circular ingot.
To stretch the cast discs the men sit around a sunken metal stake and hammer in sequence, using beautifully shaped hammers. The rhythm of the work is musical.
See an overview of the workshop and the processes here: Bangladesh Metalwork - Hammerwork.
The men mark out the line on the disc with a set of dividers. The disc is then held on a log and with a chisel piece made of metal (tied into place in a piece of split bamboo) the edge is cut, demonstrating great co-ordination and precision between the two men.
See the men using a chisel and hammer to cut the edges here: Bangladesh Metalworking 02
We followed the sound of metal being hammered and discovered the second workshop. Here men were working on other stages in the production of the bowls and discs;
Sometimes the scraping was by hand, using hardened steel blades set into a bamboo shaft. The sharp scraper is supported by a steel bar which the craftsman holds between his fingers and is tensioned against the edge of the disc.
As he works the scraper on the surface of the disc he releases his grip allowing the scraper to move, in a controlled way, across the disc towards the centre. The disc is held in position by three pieces of material. The first is a small stake in the ground with a slot cut into the diameter, this holds the base of the disc. The second is a stick, which again has a slot cut into it, and this supports the top of the disc. This is held in place by the weight of the crafts mans leg bearing down upon it. The third is a larger lump of wood / a brick or pad of cloth which sits behind the disc and supports it from flipping sideways or slipping backwards. The whole of the craftsman's body is used to secure and work the piece. The workload is very physical and the men's heels wear impressions into the ground. The scraping starts at the edge and moves toward the middle, the disc is rotated to work across the whole of the surface, producing these interesting patterns as the marks, from the scraping, catch the light.
The metal is held in place by using heated plant resin as an adhesive. The resin is softened over a small ceramic kiln filled with burning charcoal, again heated with the aid of a small, hand powered, fan.
When in position, the disc (and the resin) are quickly cooled using damp cloths. The resin hardens as it cools and this secures the disc in position. A stick with a metal ferrel at its end is used to make the disc run true. This is controlled by the left foot, as both hands are occupied with the disc and the lathe.
