Dhanaula’s Wooden Toys Not For Kids Who Choose Chinese Gadgets, Smartphones
Barnala: When did you last see a kid playing with traditional wooden toys? Probably not much after the turn of the century. Though this shift was not an overnight phenomenon, the gradual transition from phone to smartphone, Chinese gadgets and parents’ preference for fulfilling children’s demand gave enough leeway for the gaming giants to take command. But the shift has done more bad than good. While children do not get to play with toys needed for their mental growth, the craftsmen working in the wooden toy sector, rendered jobless, are also gasping for survival.
Known as a one-point destination for wooden toys, Dhanaula, a small town in Punjab’s Barnala district, is amid an existential crisis, as neither its toys are in demand nor are the craftsmen getting enough to make both ends meet.
No Toying Around: Dhanaula’s Wooden Toys Not For Kids Who Choose Chinese Gadgets, Smartphones (ETV Bharat)
“For over five decades, our toys had a lot of demand. They were being sent to Australia. But the cheap and jazzy Chinese toys and the birth of smartphones severely dented the trade,” says artisan Bant Singh, who has been crafting toys for over 20 years. There was a time when he employed 10 people in his workshop. “Back then, children would play only with wooden and clay toys as they were not dangerous. “Playing with such toys made them inquisitive, while ensuring physical and mental agility,” he says.
No Toying Around: Dhanaula’s Wooden Toys Not For Kids Who Choose Chinese Gadgets, Smartphones (ETV Bharat)
Today, with two workers and two others employed for dyeing, Singh has been managing barely enough to keep the firm running. “We used to get so many orders from across the country that meeting the demand was not easy. But now Chinese toys dominate the market,” he laments.
Singh’s firm also prepares sparrow nests, with the hope that children will understand the value of how such things are made. “Now the children do not get time to even think creatively or read books. It is a bad phase when children have lost track of our traditions and value systems by getting addicted to games on their mobile phones,” he adds.
No Toying Around: Dhanaula’s Wooden Toys Not For Kids Who Choose Chinese Gadgets, Smartphones (ETV Bharat)
Bittu, another toymaker, echoes similar sentiments. His workshop was also once busy as orders for miniature jeeps, tractors, and horse carts were coming in from all parts of the country. “Now I have just one person at the workshop. I was doing business worth lakhs. Now we have nothing,” he says. He, however, still hopes that with government support, if toy fairs and exhibitions are held in all parts of the country, people would once again come back to traditional wooden toys.
No Toying Around: Dhanaula’s Wooden Toys Not For Kids Who Choose Chinese Gadgets, Smartphones (ETV Bharat)
A customer, Yusuf Kha,n who reaches Singh’s shop to pick a toy for his grandson, returns empty-handed as the toy he wanted was not in stock due to depleting demand. “We grew up playing with wooden toys. I wanted to have those for my children so that they can be diverted from holding the mobile phones,” Khan says.
Similarly, Mithu Singh, another customer, was irked with mobile phone addiction of the kids at his house. “I just want my children to grow up with basic toys that teach them things which no mobile phone game can. Present-day kids need to grow up with toys, not with phones, during childhood,” he adds.
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