Angul: A potter of Chheliapada on the outskirts of this town has become a role model in the village industry.
Meet Tripura Muduli, whose eco-friendly water bottles and filters made of clay are a big draw among the denizens of this town.
People who are aware of the ecological implications of consuming plastic bottles throng Muduli’s house to buy his products. Moreover, clay water bottles and filters are cheaper than plastic products.
Muduli says his childhood was not a bed of roses as he had to struggle hard at his workshop to earn a living even as children of age would pass their time studying and playing.
Muduli was in Class-V when his feather suffered from an illness, forcing the former to take up pottery as a profession.
He would then visit Angul and nearby places and make clay articles. He had special interest in making idols which soon became passion for him. Muduli’s beautiful idols and household items soon caught the fancy of people.
After marriage, Muduli was helped by his wife at his workshop. He got an opportunity to enhance his skills after he received training on making terracotta items from some artisans of West Bengal. Muduli also received help from some outfits and an engineer named Adyasloka Mishra.
He started making terracotta items including water bottles and filters which he had learnt during his training. A bottle costs Rs 30, while the price of a filter ranges between Rs 500 and Rs 600, Muduli says. Water remains cool in these bottles for a longer period than in plastic bottles, he adds.
Engineer Mishra said Muduli’s products have become useful for poor people who do not have the resources to buy a refrigerator or an expensive water filter. PNN
