Brass hookah-making battling for survival

Balaheri: More than 200 years old tradition of making brass hookah, in northwestern Indian village of Balaheri in

Rajasthan is dying a slow death. The village once famous for its specially produced brass hookahs is now fighting a battle for survival. According to legends, a local chieftain Raja Nagte Singh commissioned this community of artisans to make brass items. Over a period of time their handiwork gained popularity encouraging the subsequent generations to venture into the business of making hookahs. Once a flourishing business has today only a few families engaged in this tradition. Most of them either migrated to other places or joined other professions for survival. According to the artisans, the machine-made hookahs that are cheaper in terms of labour and time has deprived them of their livelihood. "This art has become expensive due to automation that has made the machine made hookah cheaper. We cannot afford the expensive machinery available. A few tribes like Thater, who make beautiful hookahs, are rarely seen making hookahs. Many of them migrated to some other place, engaged in other activities to sustain their families," said Deepchand Bariva, an artesian struggling to make a living by making hookahs. Artisans make hookahs of various shapes and sizes like vase shaped, a bird atop a hookah and rectangular shaped hookahs. Lack of demands and exposure to outside market are some of the major hurdles for the survival of these artisans. "We face the problem of lack of transportation, regular supply of electricity is not there, the raw materials like brass and pipes have become very expensive and the end product has become expensive. The customers are not buying it and we are not able to make a proper living on it," said Dalchand another struggling artisan who intends to change his profession. Even though the market price of these hookahs is around $539.84, the artisans are not able to gain much as they have to depend on middlemen to sell their ware, who pocket a lion’s share of the profit. Bureau Report