Whenever we go to the river bank, we often see a lot of stones. These stones are hard of any special use. Just imagine, if creative art is made with the help of these stones, an idol is made, social awareness is created, then how will it be? Isn't it a unique idea? This initiative has been taken by Prahlad Bhagwanrao Pawar, who lives in the Parbhani district of Maharashtra. Prahlad has been making different types of creative products from the stones lying on the banks of the river for the last 5 years. There is also a demand for their products across the country. This earns them a good income. Not only this, with his creativity, he is also spreading awareness among the people. He has also received many awards for this.
33-year-old Prahlad says that most of our time is spent in the village. As a child, we used to go for a walk and play on the banks of the river. We have the Godavari river here. Then we used to play with the stones lying on the banks of the river with our friends and used to do some artwork. Slowly my interest started growing and I started creating different types of designs. However, it was at a very early stage then and such art platforms were not planned, and neither did we understand much.
Prahlad says that in the year 2016, for the first time, with the help of these stones, he created an artwork of a woman. Which one of his acquaintances bought and demanded such a product in future also. This was the turning point for Prahlad. They say that the art I had prepared than was normal compared to my art today, but it was unique and a new idea. So everyone who saw him liked it. After that, I felt that this art can be started at the professional level along with passion.
What was there, Prahlad started making designs from the stones lying on the banks of the river. He started marketing his art by holding exhibitions at different places. Meanwhile, in 2017 he received a fellowship from the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. During the three-year fellowship, he got to see many things about art. He was very inspired by seeing the things related to the social campaign on different themes.
Prahlad says that then I realized that the better we think, visualize things, the better art will be made. Because behind every art, there is definitely some message or purpose. After this, in the year 2020, he started his startup. They started making idols, art related to social awareness, home decoration items from stones lying on the banks of the river. They say that for this I did not need any kind of training. Every day I kept moving forward with the urge to do something new. I went on doing what people suggested.
For this art, Prahlad collects stones from rivers like Godavari River, Bori River, and Betwa. First, they set their theme, then find stones in the right size and design according to the theme. The special thing is that they create art in its natural form without cutting any stone.
Special glue is used to join the stones together. He frames his art in the size of 9×12. It takes up to three days to make a regular frame. Whereas it takes 1000 to 1200 rupees to make a frame. He explains that making creative art with stones comes under Pebble Art. This is a very unique art. As easy as it looks, it is actually more difficult. It is very difficult to find stones of the same size and design them according to the theme.
Prahlad makes more use of social media and WhatsApp groups for marketing. They upload photos and videos of their artwork on social media, from there people place orders for their favorite products. Many people even make customized products from them according to their demand. After this, they package the product properly and send it to the customers with the help of a courier. Apart from this, they also set up their stalls in different places and fairs. They have set up their stalls in many states including Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra. The price of one of their products is around 1500.
Prahlad currently has more than 100 artifacts. Recently, on the occasion of Teacher's Day and Ganesh Chaturthi, he has created many arts from stone. Another of his works is 'My Teacher Rocks!' A teacher is shown teaching girls under the campaign 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao'. The second art shows a young girl watering a plant and a woman in a facemask sweeping the road as part of the 'Swachh Survekshan 2021'.
However, the sale of his artwork has slowed down due to the Kovid epidemic. They want this Pebble Art of theirs to get maximum recognition. He hopes that the government will come forward and help artists like him to showcase the hidden beauty of places like Parbhani.
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