Ahead of the Kali puja to be celebrated next week all over the country, a Muslim artisan is busy in West Bengal, making and giving final touches to idols of the Goddess.

Yes, you heard it right as Daspur village in West Bengal is proud of its citizen Ismail, who for the last 40 years along with his family in West Medinipur has been making idols of Goddess Kali. Symbolising communal amity, Ismail, now 61 years old, is the only idol maker to whom all the villagers flock to buy Ma Kali.

What is really interesting is that it is not Ismail alone who is dedicated to this task, as his wife and five daughters, including Hasina and Aspiyara and others, help him in making idols of Hindu gods and goddesses.

Despite going through tough times, Ismail is ensuring that his daughters get education and has faith in the Almighty. He believes they will study and lead good lives because his girls have the blessings of both ‘Ishwar and Allah’.

On the days preceding Kali Puja, Ismail is busy as he needs to finish the idols. Talking about his job to news18.com, he said: “This is what I have been doing from childhood, the villagers and also from other places people come to me to get idols made. I am poor but with everybody’s blessing I am running my family. It feels great when the idols get ready."

His work not only pleases him but also his villagers too. Talking about how everyone buys the Kali idols from Ismail, Birendra Roy, a local observed: “Here every pandal gets their idol made by Ismail. He is good at his work and we have all grown up together and this is our culture to be together."

During the puja too, Ismail remains busy as he goes round the pandals to see how his idols look all decked up and also the work done by other idol-makers.

Also read: In the spirit of universal brotherhood, Muslims revive Durga Puja for their Hindu brethren