Godhra's Muslims stick with dandias

VADODARA: The right-wing groups in Godhra may have managed to ban Muslims from entering garbas venues. But the community will still have an integral presence, not only in the town, but across the state in Navratri festival.
Not many know that Godhra is the largest manufacturer of dandias in the country and the trade is largely dominated by Muslims. The town has around 300 dandia makers who make the sticks in varying amounts.The sector is highly unorganized and sellers say that the number of dandias they make would run into lakhs. These are sold not only in the state, but even in other parts of the country.
The units otherwise manufacture items like rolling pins and rolling boards through the year. But for three to four months ahead of Navratri, the focus shifts to making 'dandias'. The units make the sticks from wood procured locally and then colour them in a variety of colours. The town specializes in making painted wooden dandias that are the most popular and not the variety embellished with brocade that the manufacturers say are largely for show and not good to play with.
Latif Jamal, a dandia maker, said that he was amongst the smaller players but still made 10,000 to 12,000 dandias. "You can guess the numbers that those who have much larger operations manufacture," he says.
"The business has been thriving in the town for decades now. In Gujarat, there are only stray places outside Godhra where dandias are made," said Tahir Gariba, another manufacturer.
The units dot the minority pockets in the town particularly Signal Falia and Hayatni Wadi. "There are 300 to 350 units in the town. Acacia wood is the most widely used raw material," said a manufacturer from Hayatni Wadi.