'People Have Spent Life's Moments On What I Made'

At 13, he left Bihar to work in a saw-mill in Bhutan. He learnt the craft of making sofas, and some of the pieces he made found a place in the royal palace. He returned home after spending 35 years in the Himalayan kingdom, and has continued making sofas, restoring old furniture and creating wire-gutting chairs, all that has become a dying art now.

On the 29th anniversary of its founding, Rediff.com begins a special series Hum Bharat Ke Log on the extraordinary people who make Bharat.

Mohammad Naseer Khan is in his late 60s. When he was 13, his older brother Rafiq, who worked as a driver in Thimpu, brought him from Bihar to Bhutan.

A young lad uninterested in studies, it was thought that Naseer would be put to some good work in the hill kingdom.

Rafiq himself had the distinction of having driven one of the most famous Indians in his car in Bhutan. He had taken Dev Anand and his brothers sightseeing, and had got himself photographed with them too.

The memory had been part of his family's stories -- the tale passed down to the children and grandchildren, and to friends and villagers.

Rafiq still lives in Bhutan, while Naseer, the younger brother, returned to Bihar some few years ago after spending 35 years in the kingdom.

"I started out as a helper in the forest department carrying logs and doing odd jobs. I was paid Rs 90 a month when I joined," says Naseer looking back on his early years in Bhutan.

"The journey to Thimpu was long, but interesting. Take the train to Siliguri, then change trains at that station to board another to Hasimara. From there we would cross the Phuentsholing border into Bhutan by road."

Naseer Khan went on to get a job at a saw mill in Thimpu which he says belonged to the king's brother and learnt the craft of making sofas and furniture.

Bhutan's blue pine trees were cut and sized in the saw mill as carpenters and workers made furniture. There were men from different parts of Bihar, Bengal and Sikkim.

"I made furniture for the royal darbar and the royal family. Even for the Indian ambassador's residence. Those were good days, now my craft is a dying art," he says.

He remembers tourist groups dropping by to see the saw-mill and buying small pieces of woodwork.

"Bhutan is a very beautiful country. A land of hills, pine trees, wooden houses and apple gardens. The houses were made of wood because the area is vulnerable to earthquakes. I used to polish the wooden walls and pillars," he says.

The craftsmen had accommodation on the factory premises and worked 8-hour shifts. Once a week, they went shopping for vegetables and would cook together at the end of each day.

As the years progressed, he honed his craft and went on to train others under him.

Once a year, he would travel back home to Bihar to be with his family. Along the way, he got married and took his wife back to Bhutan for a few years where his only daughter was born.

He has two sons -- one is employed in Saudi Arabia, the other works as a guard in Lucknow.

"My wife learnt to make the local momos which we often make in our home even now so many years after leaving Bhutan," he says.

Since his return to India 15 years ago, Khan has been making sofas, wire-knitted chairs, polishing wood, upholstering chairs and making cushions in Chhapra, Bihar.

He goes to people's home, spending days cutting foam and cloth, stitching by hand or sometimes on a sewing machine to make each pieces tediously.

An old style master craftsman, he can painstakingly work on restoring old, broken 100-year old classic pieces of furniture and at the same time quickly pick up designs that customers select from the Internet and ask him to custom-make it for their homes.

"Earlier I used to keep 2-3 catalogue books, but now customers just show me the designs on their phones," says Khan who charges Rs 800 to Rs 1,000 per day for his expertise.

"The sofas I have made for different families have lasted them 20, 30 years. Their children and grandchildren over generations have sat in them. They have spent life's moments and shared conversations on what I made," he says with a laugh, looking up from a chair he was upholstering for a family that has had several pieces of furniture made by him over the years.

Since he has built a reputation of crafting solid, long-lasting pieces of furniture, he says, "I now tell my customers that this could be the last sofa I am making for them."

"I don't think I have many years left ahead now, but my sofas will live long after me." And so will the memories of conversations that have taken place in many a family living rooms where his sofas take pride of place.

Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com