Want to teach black pottery to more youths: Machihan Sasa

Imphal: Manipur’s Machihan Sasa has said his dream is to train the unemployed youths so that the legacy of black pottery can be passed onto future generations.Sasa was conferred with the Padma Shri on Friday.The 74-year-old Sasa said he has dedicated more than five decades to preserving the art of black pottery.“I learnt the art from my father when I was 20 years of age. I have trained some 70 youths of which four to five have received state-level awards. However, my biggest regret is not being able to teach more due to economic hardships,” Sasa told PTI through his personal secretary Themreichan Sharon.“I would like to train the unemployed youths as long as I have strength. My only dream now is to train them with the full set of infrastructure as well as to set up a museum at my place to display all types of pottery items so that the legacy of black pottery can be passed on to future generations,” Sasa said.Talking about the much-needed unique clay which goes on to make the signature Longpi black pottery, Sasa, a resident of Longpi Kajui in Ukhrul district, said earlier the clay used to be brought free of cost from a place called Salah at Nungbi Khullen village but these days it has to be purchased for Rs 700 per tin owing to the rising demand and commercialisation.He said it is a “risky task” to get the clay during the rainy season.“How much we earn depends on the number of orders we receive. In the peak season, we could earn around Rs 75,000. During monsoon, there could be no earning at all,” Sasa said. PTI