It’s the busiest time for paper boat maker as the Kartika Purnima is round the corner. For, they have to produce thousands of paper and thermocol boats for the boat floating festivities on Wednesday.
Surrounded by heaps of coloured papers and thermocol, these artisans are now working overtime to meet the demand. People float toy boats on the morning of the Kartika Purnima.
In fact, watching the activities of the artisans cutting papers, their women members pasting papers on the barks of banana trees and the children collecting banana logs from the villages, one tends to forget that the art of making paper boats is a dying tradition today. Bespectacled, septuagenarian Binakar Rout of Sahaspur stated that despite his age, he has been able to make more than sixty paper boats in a day to meet the demand for Kartika Purnima.
“Our scope for work is restricted now. We make kites during Makar Sankranti festival and boats in Kartika Purnima and sundry items like paper dolls throughout the year. But these sell at dismally low prices,” said Kundan Rana, an artisan of Keshpur bazar. The demand for paper and bark made boats remains steady during Kartika Purnima despite the entry of plastic and wood boats in the market, he added.
“I have made different size of paper boats and thermocol boats. The price of these boats varies according to size and the workmanship going into them. The paper boats are available in the range of Rs5 to Rs100,” said Rana, the paper boat artisan of Keshpur bazaar.
At best, an artisan family earns around Rs5,000 - Rs7,000, profit by selling paper and thermocol boats on the eve of Kartika Purnima, stated the artisans.
The festival Kartik Purnima generally is associated with the adventurous spirit of the Odias that brings back the picture of the brave merchants of the State, said Bhagaban Patri, a historian.