T here are usually a lot of media persons who come this time of year," says Deodhar. But this year was an exception. A lot of media reports said Pen had come to a standstill and that many workshops were washed away.
"This is not completely true. There are about 550 workshops in Pen. About 35-50 were affected. Even those affected have made up for the loss," he adds.
Deodhar, the president of Sri Ganesh Murtikar Vyasaik Kalyankari Mandal, the association for artisans, is from a family that has nurtured and trained most of Pen's craftsmen. The current crop has, almost entirely, learnt the craft from him.
Also See: Pudhchya varshi lavkar ya