Diwali 2022: Dharavi’s potter community trying to meet higher demand for diyas this year

A month before the Diwali festival starts the potter community residing inside the bylanes of Kumbharwada in Dharavi gears up for their business seasonAhead of the Diwali festival the potter community in Dharavirsquos Kumbharwada is busy making and selling mud lamps diyas in order to earn their yearly business While the pandemic has hit their business harder they are trying to revive their yearly business this DiwaliThe potters can be seen making traditional Diwali lamps on the power wheel painting them or packing them after giving the final touches in KumbharwadaA 73yearold Bhanuben Solanki is one of the diya sellers at Kumbharwada While earlier during Diwali she sold diyas in Dadar market now due to her age she only sells them to wholesalers visiting DharaviSolanki who was multitasking by selling and decorating the diyas says that she is happy with this years businessAlso Read Diwali 2022 Layering is in vogue Here are tips to sport the ethnic capes and jacketsSolanki said For the past two years we were not able to make any business but this year we are overachieving our usual Diwali business The business was very low during the first two years of the pandemic and so many people and wholesalers came to buy the diyas this year in larger quantitiesWe will come to know about the actual growth in the business next year by comparing it with this year We feel that because of last two years lowkey celebration this year there is more demand in the market added 35yearold Karan Solanki son of Bhanuben who helps her during Diwali to sell the diyas on the streets of KumbharwadaI have a different professional life but just to help my mother with her business for a month I visit Dharavi to assist her said KaranKaran along with his mother sells diyas PicAnagha SawantWholesalers from across the country especially from Pune Dapoli Surat Vapi start visiting the Kumbharwada to buy diyas at wholesale rates a month prior to DiwaliWhile the potters usually make the diyas in advance wholesale sellers start their business as soon as the Dussehra festival concludesThe wholesalers sitting outside the shops at the entrance of Kumbharwada showcase different varieties of diyas to their customers They make sure that their customers needs are fulfilledBylane of Kumbharwada PicAnagha SawantAnother seller 52yearold Vinod Tank who has been running his fatherrsquos business said ldquoMore people are coming to buy this year Surely it is a pandemic effect Last two years hardly anybody visited to buy the diyas This year we sold out our stock a week in advance I sold out more than 30000 diyas till last week We had to prepare a new stock as the demand is higherrdquoSpeaking about the variety in demand Tank further added ldquoSmall and mediumsize diyas are more in demand as they are pocketfriendly and can be taken in bulk in one packet The fancy diyas are in demand too but it depends on the choice of an individualrdquo