"Caption:Two women cycle past a lush green paddy field on Majuli, one of the largest river islands in the world that faces continuous erosion of its banks to the Brahmaputra River. Photo credit: Subhendu Sarkar / LightRocket via Getty Images / AlJazeera.com
Excerpt from aljazeera.com
Assam, India – Makon Kumar’s wrinkled fingers are covered in dried-up clay. She squats on the damp dirt outside her one-room, bamboo-stilted home and spins a pottery wheel – a palm-sized grey bowl – with her left toe. Inside the bowl is a lump of newly-bought wet clay, which Kumar slaps, flattens and curves into the pot’s base. “My grandma and her grandma passed this practice down to us. We are not farmers, we have no land, and this is our work,” 60-year-old Makon said as she pressed her fist into the clay and carved out the pot’s mouth. Makon belongs to the Kumar community of about 540 people, whose women have been known for their unique pottery work since the 16th century. These women avoid machinery or a potter’s wheel but rely on their toes to spin a plate or bowl with clay. "