 "Moulding a future")
Om Prakash Galav, dressed in a turquoise kurta and a colourful turban, proudly talks about his profession. "I belong to a family of potters that has traditionally lived off this art. My father taught me pottery and was a state awardee from Rajasthan," says the man from Alwar. "I got pulled into working with clay and started earning from it."
Soon after he picked up the art from his father, Galav's hardwork started paying off - several district industries in Alwar started taking notice of the skill he had so efficiently mastered. Invitations to seminars followed, interactions with English-speaking customers also went up. Galav, who earlier had to do with Rajasthani and Hindi, has now started to understand English. Amazingly, he speaks a bit of it too.
Galav possesses a keen brain that is always willing to learn. About a decade ago, he was earmarked to pass on the art of pottery to others in his village. In the last 10 years, Galav has won several awards, the first being the district handicraft award back in 2003.
When I met him at the the TerraFest in Delhi last year, this simple and unassuming young man stood in his state's traditional attire with a coiled turban on his head. He sipped tea stylishly. His success has taken him to the UK, Sweden and Switzerland.
In India, Galav has taught more than 600 artisans, and most of them have made pottery making their main source of livelihood. Galav says that he takes immense pride in passing on the art to others. His brother is also a potter.
"In May 2004, I went to the Netherlands for two weeks. The exposure was great and that is when I realised the true demand for my work," he says. Galav has also set his eyes on setting up a pottery museum, which will showcase his grandfather's works.
Galav, in the past, has received plaudits from several politicians, including former vice president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. For two straight years - 2009 and 2010 - the Rajasthan government felicitated Galav for his efforts.
In addition to his myriad awards, Galav, a few years ago, built a 10-feet-tall Coca-Cola bottle out of terracotta, which made its way into the Limca Book of Records. His other achievements include a 14-feet-tall hookah that also set a world record. Galav has mastered the other end of the spectrum too, carving out miniature terracotta items so tiny that you need a magnifying glass to see them. He also claims to have recreated the extinct art of Kagzi pottery. A paper thin form of pottery, Kagzi has its roots in the medieval period.
Despite his remarkable successes, Galav is not one to stop. He acknowledges that his art is difficult to master, but refuses to give up. "My 2mmX2cm pottery holds the record for the world's smallest terracotta miniature pottery piece."
The hours of toil have brought him more global acclaim. The UNESCO Award for Excellence in Handicrafts 2012 was conferred on him. More Unesco awards followed two years later.
"I want to teach and revive the Kagzi pottery of Alwar," he says. Given his steadfast will to learn and adapt, it's fair to say that Galav's journey has just started; greater accolades are in the offing.
