18/09/2026
Vishwakarma Puja, 2026, at the Smallest Jewellery Workshop with the Biggest Heart.
Rakhal. Maron. Debal. Shyam. Shankar. Benu. — none of these names will ring a bell. You’ve never known them, and most at A.Sirkar don’t even know who they are.
Forty years back, they were the ones who peopled this workshop when it was a brick-and-tin shed and not a pucca building as now. There were no ventilation systems, no ceiling fans or shadowless lights, and the toilets (two, side by side) were ramshackle cubicles with no electrical connection or running water. Yes, the conditions were brutal, but so were the times. That had to change, and a decade later the building in which the karkhana now is came up, and we became virtually the only pollution-free jewellery manufacturing unit within city limits, that too certified doubly, by the Pollution Control Board and by the ISO9001 certificate awarded us by the Bureau of Indian Standards.
In the meantime, Rakhal-babu suffered a paralytic stroke and had to retire from work, Shyam literally disappeared, Shankar we heard joined his brother (Narayan) who had a workshop in Bowbazar, Benu committed su***de, Debal-babu continued working in our new workshop till his last days (he passed away of old age less than a decade ago), and Maron-babu (named ‘death’ because the offspring before him hadn’t survived and he was called that by his parents to appease the Grim Reaper so he’d be spared) still lives, and works, but independently, in a workshop somewhere on Rashbehari Avenue.
But the spirit of enterprise these master artisans harboured within them, their fortitude, the discipline with which they plied their craft, and the love they bestowed upon each ornament — from ingot to finished piece — as they brought them to life, all charge the very air of the workshop even now, and likely will for ever.
It’s still a tiny place where no more than six karigars can sit. But the smallness of the space belies its big heart. Deep sentiments, pride of profession, unfailing respect for the precious metal and for the customer – You, and a sense of creating beauty through truthfulness and honesty still pervade the karkhana, as it should because those who’ve walked before us have shown us the proper way to achieve what we seek through our jewellery : to make You immortal.
On Vishwakarma Puja, we pray for your eternalness to be secured in gold. May you prosper, and be happy and at peace at all times. And may the Divine Craftsman bless us with the strength and skill and vision to imagine, design, and create such jewels as would make you immortal.
We seek Your blessings too, so that we may never deviate from the path of truth and beauty, and always enspirit our work with Your divine splendour. We owe our life and our living to You. May our infinite gratitude for that find expression in our work.
On this auspicious day, when the creator of the universe’s most wondrous and magnificent and powerful things and places is traditionally worshipped, we supplicate Him to simply make our work our worship — of You.
(Music credit : Spiral Dance. Medieval Dance. Hurdy-Gurdy, Organ and Drum. The Hurdy-Gurdy played by Andrey Vinogradov)