Today India is considered a poor agricultural country. But until about 200 years back, our country was regarded as the world's leading manufacturing society. Europeans took hazardous voyages to India, attracted by its wealth and exquisite luxury goods. One of the major characteristics of our traditional technological excellence was that it did not merely cater to the aristocratic urban elite. High quality, aesthetically designed consumer goods and architectural wonders were found in virtually each part of the country. This is the reason why old jewellery of our ordinary village women, old brass and copper pots commonly used in rural homes, their carved doors, windows and household furniture are today sold as exorbitantly priced antique items in the international market.
This technological legacy was the inheritance of a group of jatis known as 'Vishwakarma', who are found in every Indian city and village.
Tragically enough, the jatis who elevated our country's technological, craft and industrial skills to such astonishing levels over centuries have today been declared as "Backward" and "Most Backward Castes". Why and how have their skills and art become obsolete? What impact has their devaluation had on the rest of society? These are some of the questions explored in this documentary. |