Ameer Khan has been making these toys for the last 35 years upon his move to Lahore from a village, Banjar, which comes under Tehsil Talagang offshoots of Pothohar.
“My parents were basically farmers back in the village. When we migrated to Lahore, we learned this craft of toy-making. The primary reason for migrating from our village was 'rozi', (wage) there is no employment in the village. We learned this craft in our childhood; after migrating to Lahore, we had to do something, so my elder brother, Sakhi Muhammad, learned this craft from some people of Multan and taught the whole family. We have been doing it for many years, but our children are not interested in making these toys. My elder son makes them sometimes, but the younger one doesn't like to sell.”
“I leave at 7/8 am in the morning from Babu Sabu and go to Model Town, Green Town, Muslim Town Mian Plaza, Karim Market, Johar Town, Ichara Bazar, Mozang, Gulberg and sometimes Shoe Market, we are not allowed to enter DHA. The guards don't let us enter because, we are poor people, and the bicycles we carry are also second-rated; sometimes its chain derails, and sometimes I start dripping due to sweat", He said smiling. “It takes an hour and a half to reach any market by bicycle ride.”
Ameer Khan told about his childhood, "When I was a child, I used to play Gulli Danda, and Kenchy. He held his finger with the other hand to demonstrate, or we used to play with walnuts; I remember we used to make a toy called Khandoori, a ball made of leftover clothes; Ameer Khan told me the process of making Khandoori. We used to collect old useless clothes, soak them in water and tie it firmly. His hands were moving like he was making one when it became the size of a small ball, then we used to stitch it with needle and thread and later played with it just like cricket, but we had clubs instead of bats. We used to play all day before shifting to Lahore."
"It requires a lot of hard work and time; first of all, we have to cut bamboos into smaller parts, we convert used motorcycle tubes into rubber bands by cutting, preparing Dugga, muddy cups for Rehri, and for Dugdugi we have to mold cardboard skillfully."
“We just demand that these toys have a single set cost, and whoever wants to buy one item should ask for one and pay us. We don't need to bargain – a price should be set, no matter whether the buyer comes on a car, motorcycle, or anybody. The buyer should appreciate our hard work and craft. This is all we desire!”
"We also used to make Juhnjhunay and Pakhay in the beginning when I used to sell these toys in Kachi Abadi, but now I go to these markets, so these three items are saleable."
"After me, I don't know if my children will carry on this craft or not. We cannot compel them. As long as I am alive, I will keep making them because of wages, and we are thankful to the Malik, who feeds us. I cannot claim that my grandsons will carry this (craft) forward; I am not sure. Danish Ali (Ameer's grandson) sits with me while I make these toys. They observe us while we make them. Munir (Ameer’s youngest son) does what his heart says, sometimes, he helps me make toys, and sometimes he does not; he learnt the craft and then makes the toys but does not like to sell like me."
I asked if you find something better than this work. Would you prefer to do that? He thought for a moment and replied, "I will give it a second thought, but I will not discontinue the craft of toy making because this is one thing that is close to my heart,"
Khatoon Bibi, wife of Ameer Khan, started sharing that she had been on the bed since last four years. She is unable to stand still on her feet. She seeks help from her daughter-in-law or Munir for visiting washroom.
“It’s a Hawai Rozi; inconsistent livelihood, sometimes it pays you in form of 400/500 rupees and sometimes you come back penniless,”
“There are two consumers left of these toys; the people who are film industry and teachers they order beforehand that they need a certain amount, and we prepare before they come to pick-up their order.”
“My own younger son thinks, these toy-making activity is not of any worth and he prefers going to cattle auction with the surety he would not come back home empty handedly in the evening”
Once I caught cold and I could not visit them for a month, but I gave them my mobile number so, Khatoon Bibi called me and asked, “Why didn’t I come since a month?” So, I told her that I caught cold so she told a ‘totka’-remedy- to me that would cure my congested chest. She said, whenever I will visit them, she would spare some Desi eggs of her domestic hen. When I visited them after recovering Khatoon Bibi instructed Bholi to make tea and boil an egg for me. When I was coming back home, she gave me two eggs and said, “mix them in hot milk and your chest would be perfect in the morning.” For the whole winter season, whenever I visited her, she gave me a boiled egg and cup of tea and whenever I insisted not to take she responded, “Aren’t you a son of mine?”
He requested me to take photos with his wife to save as Yadgeeri, "who knows how much time she has," (his wife is sick) and asked me to share whatever the expenses are spent on printing. I tried to refuse payment, saying it was alright, but he insisted. I could sense the dignity in his insistence.
Once their only daughter, Shazia was visiting so Ameer Khan already shared the date of her arrival, he also wanted to have a family photograph. I observed that they have strange relationship while being photographed, in this age of a click with every second, being photographed is an event for them, a special one in fact.
Bholi and Munir got married 6 months ago and their cousin took their pictures on a mobile phone, but they did not own any as a Yadgeeri. So, Bholi wore her bridal dress, applied make-up for recreating the memory of her Wedding Day.
Munir is very fond of pets. He has hens, pigeons and a quail.
Munir does not like to sell these toys but he helps his preparing sometimes when he has free time.
It was a cold, cloudy evening in the beginning of January 2021. I was sitting on a cot outside of Ameer Khan's tent-house when I saw a person of six feet coming towards me hobbling. He was, in his sixties, wearing a chocolate brown shalwar kameez, covering the head with a brown pakol, keeping a thick and lengthy mustache, eyes were brimming with Surma and he was wearing a brown Gargaabi in feet. For a moment, I thought some retired security guard was coming; later, Khatoon Bibi told me he was the younger brother of Meeru (Ameer Khan is called Meeru by love).
One day Sakhi Muhammad invited me to his tent-house for the first time. It was a 20 x 16 tent house with a small kitchen made of mud. While entering the tent-house, two wooden charpais were lying left and right, leaving the space in the center that ends with large trunks covered by colorful frills. Some posters of Sufis (Shahbaz Qalandar, Data Sahib) were hanging along the roof in the center of the tent-house.
While entering the tent-house, two wooden charpais were lying left and right, leaving the space in the center that ends with large trunks covered by colorful frills. Some posters of Sufis (Shahbaz Qalandar, Data Sahib) were hanging along the roof in the center of the tent-house.
"I spent most of my life eloping with girls, and in courts, I had been notorious in my hometown but time does not stay same, the prime age comes and goes, there is a proverb: the end of a scoundrel and a prostitute is always bad; I escaped by 25/26 court cases, eloped with four women, and also helped 10/15 people arranging elopements that’s another story..."
"I was 14 years old when I eloped with a girl; it was my first marriage."He opened his wallet and showed me a blurred black and white passport size picture. “I have married four times, and every single time I eloped," he carried on proudly.
When I was a toddler, my father had Pashtoon friends in Peshawar. When I was 6/7 months old, they came to see me, and their wives made this mole on my forehead with a needle to save me from ‘Nazar-e-bad’Bad omen. My mother told me I cried a lot. They opened it with a needle, added Surma, and later pinned it up. When I was 8/9 years old, they asked my mother to see how beautiful this Dimi looked to him. Its tradition of India you know, here you can find this tradition in Peshawar. After the death of my father, they did not visit us.
He showed me pictures of all his four wives. He wanted to get one of his pictures photoshopped with one of his wives, who died some years ago. He told me he has 5 children from his last wife, who lives back in Talagang with his children, and a daughter from another wife. He shared that two of his wives died, whereas one he divorced.
I could see sadness coming over his eyes while sharing pictures of his deceased former wives. “I have pictures of all my family members, and I keep them as Yadgeeri; my children will have them after my death.”
“I used to be dandy in my prime age, even once Lollywood people came and offered me to work with them in Punjabi movies, I was also interested and willing to go in showbiz, but my mother and my sister started crying if the people would misuse me, so I gave up.”
Sakhi Muhammad's elder son, Rehmat sells coloured fish on the streets. He prefers selling fish to making and selling these toys he thinks the toys don’t pay enough…
I found an interesting thing about the toymakers’ relationship with pictures. Surprisingly, they had only one source of being photographed themselves: the Pathan photographers on the streets. I observed that whenever they view their family pictures, they become sad. Sakhi Muhammad again stressed that pictures are Yadgeeri for everyone as when he will die, these would be Yadgeeri for them, and when they would not be any more, they would go with his grandsons, so it will go generation to generation."
“My father was in jail for 14 years in a suspected murder case. I was 6 years old at that time. It was the time we migrated to Lahore.”
"Now the end seems weaker, and I know whatever I have done (referring to elopements) has consequences, but if God is blessed, He will forgive me…." He finished.
Ibrahin Alam Mehboob is a pottery maker of 25 old and he makes earthen pots. He belongs to village Ahmad Pur Sharqia that comes under the district of Bahawalpur. He has been making these earthen pots since the last 17 years. He learnt this craft from his father whose for-fathers had been making these earthen pots since many generations.
"My father cannot make these pots now due to his weak eye sight, I and my two brothers are carrying this tradition forward from my generation and we are hopeful that we will bring this tradition forward. In the olden times people used earthen pots for cooking and eating but in this modern age this tradtion has died down. People prefer steel-based or glass based pots now. We are trying to reintroduce this tradition of using earthen pots."
"If I talk about my father's time at that time this skill of earthen pot making was time taking as there weren't electric motors so he used foot to revolve the plate on that pot was made. Now the force that was made by foot has been replaced by electric motor. The pots have also been modernized as per the requirement as pitcher has been replaced by earthen jug, and bowl has taken place of earthen glass now. We have made tea sets and water sets of mud as well. I was trained on that manual machine initially but now I have converted to this motor based machine and that manual machine used to take a lot of energy and effort and this craft doesnt pay us in return according to the amount of hardwork we put in. By using these earthen toys you cannot fall a prey to any disease."
" I was fond of this craft and I want to promote this craft for my country and make Pakistan proud. I made world's smallest pot by this skill that is the size of pinky finger's nail. I want to show the world our talent. I also conduct workshops in schools and festivals because I want to promote this craft and glad to teach anyone especially new generation."
