38-year-old Mohammad Shaikh has been making Ganpati idols for 20 years in Bakery Lane in Bhayandar (West).
Thane: With a message to go eco-friendly this Ganesh Chathurthi, Mohammad Shaikh is pushing boundaries for the festival as well as environment welfare.
38-year-old Shaikh has been making Ganpati idols for 20 years in Bakery Lane in Bhayandar (West), a suburb 8 kms north of Mumbai. He has been profiled by newspapers in the past but this year, his message is for all of Maharashtra. “Please stop using the P-O-P material to make Ganesh idols as it is harmful to the environment. Use natural and recyclable ingredients instead as the water bodies need to be protected too. Instead of throwing away garlands and holy books in the trash, give them to me and I will make idols out of them and give them to you,” he said in a report which was published on Facebook.
His work doesn’t stop even during the holy month of Ramzan. In a report by Hindustan Times, he said that by carving the idols he celebrates Ramzan.
“Armoured with a rasp, a chistle and other sculpting tools, the 36-year-old spends the time to make Ganesha idols in the makeshift workshop in his house. “Every year, I make about 200 Ganpati idols in my ‘karkhana’ (workshop). This is not for earning money, but purely because I love doing this. Ramzan is the holy month for us to reflect on our deeds; what can be better than sculpting the lord?” says Shaikh in the 2016 report.
“The father of two earns his living by carving stones in the locality which produces large Durga and Ganesh sculptures in the city. A former farmer, Shaikh had sold his land in Odisha and came to erstwhile Bombay (Mumbai) to make a living in 1991. “I didn’t know anything but farming when I came here. Then one day, I stumbled upon some idol-makers. I joined a shop and learned bit-by-bit by observing others,” recalls Shaikh in the report.
“He started making these idols after he saw various artists preparing sculptures of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Durga. Shaikh was so inspired that he started attending workshops and developed the skill of making Ganesh idols. “I liked watching artists making Ganesh idols, and did so from the beginning and while they painted them and later sold them during Ganeshotsav. So, I attended workshops and worked at various pandals helping people. Now, I have a shop of my own to prepare idols,” said Shaikh in a 2016 report by DNA.
“Initially, a few people would get perplexed about whether to buy an idol from a non-Hindu. “Most customers never bother about where they buy the idol from as long as the idols look perfect. But I remember a person who criticised me,” Shaikh adds. About six years ago, the customer told Shaikh that it was wrong to do this work because he was from a different community, “I explained to him that the lord is one. The guy was so convinced that ever since then, he has been buying the idols only from me,” the HT report added.