Lured by the clay

One of the most beautiful memories of my childhood is eagerly waiting for Sunday noon; when Jeevi, the toys seller would pay us visit from a nearby village. She used to bring interesting menagerie of stunningly beautiful clay toys that captivated our hearts in sense of wonder. The moment her arrival was announced by a typical, sweet clink of her silver anklets, all the children would sprint towards her in desperate attempt to be the first lucky one to see, touch and feel the treasure she had carefully chosen for us that week! I remember always being more possessive about her clay toys compared to other expensive toys that were sought after by many kids. 

Last week, I got an opportunity to pursue pottery; something that I have always wanted to do but somehow could not. Perhaps, that little girl playing with clay toys must be still alive deep down in some corner as I am absolutely THRILLED! 

Touch of clay can be ethereal experience! There is deep sense of satisfaction derived from giving a form to amorphous lump of clay. One feels sense of integration with the earth, the very source of our material. There is some strange sense of belonging. Making an absolutely shapeless form of mass into some brilliant form is a real work of art and I can't wait till I create mine. I have realized what a restless soul I am deep down. My mind that is so used to multi-task gets little edgy when I am told to practice LOT of patience!  

Clay as a material is very difficult to handle at all stages and one has to be constantly diligent from beginning till end, in order to avoid damage or breakage. Making something with clay can bring endless moments of frustrations, joys, risk and excitement of working with the element of fire. The culmination of fire which turns clay into permanent form is the most painstaking yet immensely rewarding exercise! 

The most interesting thing, apart from enjoying some therapeutic moments while handling clay has been my interaction with the artist/designer/teacher, Neha, who happens to be very experienced in the field. Last week, two most important lessons I learnt were when she was teaching me how to handle the clay while giving it a form. She said, "Simi, NEVER get emotionally attached to any piece you make out of clay, no matter how hard you have worked in the process of making it. Eventually, most of the pieces would break, get deformed in the process, disintegrated in the kiln or even after having taken a perfect permanent form might be damaged due to careless handling or some freak accident". She added, "Mend the cracks the moment you notice them emerge, so that they don't weaken rest of your creation."

I have been trying to imbibe those lessons while working with clay and her words made me wonder how true they stand for relationships and life in general!