It’s time to say good bye to Shilpgram Utsav 2011, which charmed us with all its magnificent art performances, shopping and fun for 10 days. During the period 21-30December, this annual fest was attended by thousands of people every day.

Several prominent traditional artists including musicians, painters, craftsmen and dancers from all over the country participated in the Shilpgram Utsav.

We repeatedly appreciate the stage shows, arts and the artists, but never spare a thought about those who are instrumental in each and every arrangement that makes the Utsav as it is. Right from entry passes, security, ambience, management to all other basic necessities that go behind making an event of such a grand scale a success.

Shilpgram is organized and managed by West Zone Cultural Centre (WZCC) and every year there is a team of 11 dedicated people who are given responsibility for each department.

We have featured these 11 Men behind Shilpgram Utsav to appreciate their work and offer our sincere gratitude in making Shilpgram Utsav 2011 another successful event.

Each new day at the festival demands setting up of a new stage as per the day’s theme, appropriate lightings and sound control. This is the responsibility of Laiq Hussain, one of the officials of WZCC. In the words of Laiq Hussain, “We work on deadlines of less than 24 hours to design and set a new stage every day; various people including local craftsmen, painters and carpenters work hard to make a perfect and relaxing ambience while our team of sound and electrical takes control of proper light and sound.”

CP Singh: Craftsmen CoordinatorCP Singh takes care of more than 500 craftsmen and traders who set up shop at Shilpgram. Right from providing identity cards to allotment of shops, Mr. Singh also helps in solving problems and necessities of traders. “My job is to coordinate with all these traders who come from distant towns, cities and villages of India to Udaipur. I solve their problems related to shops or anything else that they require.”

Heeralal Audich : MaintenanceHeeralal’s work starts months before Shilpgram Utsav’s commencement. He is the man behind the beautification and maintenance of this craftsmen’s village. Repairing of huts, small stages, painting and renovation of stalls, etc. is taken care of by him. “There are nearly 45 huts and other things we start working on at least one and half months before the festival starts.”

Vilas Jhanve: Stage Program CompositionBeing a stage artist himself, Vilas Jhanve exploits his experience and creativity by scheduling the evening stage shows that witness a huge number of audiences. He coordinates with all performers and plans the sequence of individual shows. Vilas Jhanve also does the anchoring with teenage co-anchor Mohita Dixit. “Besides writing my own script for anchoring, I constantly work with artists and performers to make every show successful”

KS Chundawat: Control Room Controlling more than 10,000 visitors everyday is one of the most insightful and responsible tasks supervised by K.S Chundawat along with other regular tasks, viz. important announcements on missing persons and things, issuing I-cards and vehicle passes to fair employees and staff, etc. “We also have to react on complaints made by tourists, while safety and security is a big challenge for us.”

T.S. Sodha: Market Design and PlanningThere are tens of beautiful markets in Shilpgram, viz. Vividha, Utkrisht, Dhatu Dhaam, Vastra Dhaam, etc. Each and every market has its own specialty and displays varied products and articles for sale. The design and planning for these markets is done by T.S Sodha and his team of three people, Heeralal Audich, C.P Singh and Akbar. “We plan and decide on shop set up and placement. In all, there are 550 shops at Shilpgram.”

Shurveer Singh: Protocol and PublicityShurveer Singh receives every VVIP and VIP guest to Shilpgram and looks after the dignitaries’ tour and elucidates them about the art and artists of Shilpgram. Mr. Singh also holds key responsibilities to execute promotional activities of the event.

Nimiraj Singh: Stay and Accommodation Most of the artists, traditional craftsmen and traders who participate in Shilpgram belong to various parts of India. They come to Shilpgram every year and stay for more than 10 days. Their accommodation and transport is Nimiraj’s responsibility, who has to coordinate with the Nagar Parishad and other authorities to provide pick-n-drop facilities and arrange their stay in Udaipur.

Pankaj Nagar: Gate Entry In chargePankaj Nagar is the person who is responsible for entry and exit of every visitor to Shilpgram, providing passes and tickets including security check as a part of his job. “We check 10,000 people and sometimes more than that every day; it’s a team effort and a very severe challenge for us to manage it effectively.”

Bhupendra Singh Kothari: PurchasingBhupendra Singh controls the expenses and manages purchasing of assets for executives at the Shilpgram Utsav. He also undertakes buying of groceries for staff, construction tools and materials for renovation according to the requirement. The infrastructure of Shilpgram’s festival is highly depending upon Bhupendra’s job.

Shailendra Dashora: Director, WZCC, Udaipur and ShilpgramLast but not least, Shilpgram’s success story cannot in any way be complete without the positive leadership of IAS Officer and Director of West Zone Cultural Centre, Shailendra Dashora, who, with his impeccable perceptiveness made his team work effective and helped Shilpgram Festival to acquire several heights and appreciation.