BHOPAL: At 33, Mohd. Bilal Khatri is the toast of tiny hamlet called Bagh in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh, who has been selected for a national award for handicrafts by the ministry of textiles, Government of India.
The ninth generation master craftsman said, “I’m proud of the fact that I’m getting the national award for my Bagh print, which I incorporated on a bamboo durry. The award will be given in a formal ceremony in Delhi in winters, but it has already given me the much needed fillip in my fight to keep my pushtaini art alive,” said Bilal, speaking to TOI.
His father Yusuf Khatri is a ‘shilp guru’ and winner of two national awards who taught Bilal the intricacies of Bagh motifs, the art which has given an identity to his village. “Bagh is a dying art, unless efforts are made to revive it, it will become extinct,” said Bilal and added, “MP is a state with 80 per cent tribal population. It is high time tribal youngsters are taught to master our traditional art forms, to ensure they become known, internationally.”
It is his life mission to promote Bagh print, said the award-winning artisan, who went out of his way to help the poor artisans of his village in last 18 months of pandemic. “During the Covid-19 lockdown, I took cash and credit limit from bank to give material, colours, fabric and employment to poor artisans and readied 30,000 metres of Bagh print. The moment markets opened, we all restarted our journey to be on our feet,” Bilal said.
