A Field Trip

Good morning whatever it is at the time you are reading this. We’ve been pretty restricted during this lockdown. So come, let’s look at a pretty forgotten profession . How? Through our imagination of course, how else 🤷‍♀️ Shall we start now?

 We are standing outside a small wood plank gate that we slowly push open. Inside, a woman who is wearing an oversized shirt that has mud spots on it, greets us. She greets us with a warm smile and leads the way. After walking up to the verandah, you notice a wooden wheel and lots of clay. 

source: https://karaleighfordceramics.com/shed-diaries/2018/9/11/how-to-choose-a-potters-wheel

Oh! You get it now. She’s a potter and we are in a pottery class. Not Harry potter, but a real potter, the one that is a profession 😂 You realise that I have brought you to a potter. But why?

Have some patience dude, you’ll know soon enough.

After a little intro she decides to show us the entire process of pottery.

She begins by taking a lump of clay from a pile of clay, or play dough. Then, she makes her wheel move around its axis and throws the clay lump on the centre of the wheel. Afterwards, she moves the wheel faster with the help of a stick. She has now begun her pottery. It feels so good to see it that it beats the satisfying videos. Soon she is done with making the new pots. Her attention is now shifted to the half-made pots. She picks up one of them and starts hammering on the still-quite-soft pot with a rectangular piece of wood. You think what is she doing? This way the pot will break. 

Almost as if reading your mind, the potter says that I’m doing this to give shape to the pots. This is very important. If the potters didn’t do this, most of us would get a weird looking pot. We leave the place and SNAP! We reach home.

So? How was this journey? I really hope it broke the monotony of the situation and was like a field trip or excursion. Now if it is a field trip, the teacher will definitely ask you to write what you have learnt from the trip, isn’t it?

No worries ‘cause I’ve got your back. I’ll write the feedback for you 😉 

We saw that the potter had to hammer his pots, one of the things most dear to him, only to shape them. He also has to put them in the fire to make them dry so that they can be strong. The hotter the fire is, the stronger the pots are.

There is a similar pattern in our life too. Our teacher and parents scold us, not only because we err, but also to shape us, to make us stronger. And this can be done with wet pots only. That’s why we get most of our scolding during our childhood. It is so that we are well shaped and do not crack easily.

P.S.

This concept had been told to me by my 5th grade class teacher. I think the people who were with me in that section may remember it. I’d like to thank all my teachers, especially primary school teachers who have hammered when I was a half-made pot. I’m still not complete but the major part of the work has been done by you. So thanks again, even if I can’t thank you enough.

In case anyone wanted to actualise their imagination, here is the link to a video for them.