Being a woodturner, shaazop is not everyone’s cup of tea, especially not if you are a woman. But Sangay Dolma, residing in Paro, is a triumph at it. So, how does she do it? A lot of hard work, consistency, discipline, and perseverance. Besides, she has something extraordinary that keeps her going the extra mile. A piece of advice from His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo made all the difference. It has motivated Sangay to turn her skills into passion which eventually transformed into a successful business.
49-year-old Sangay Dolma, who hails from Trashi Yangtse, starts her day as early as the dawn breaks.
Sangay gets into her element at her workstation in her backyard. She begins by sharpening her tools, chisels and scrapers. She then puts on the motor, a substitute for the traditional lathe system. It has made her job easier.
It takes Sangay about 10 minutes to transform this burr into an elegant traditional cup.
She charges Nu 500 for an ordinary burr and over a thousand for the special ones which require extra attention to detail.
On average Sangay earns over Nu 50,000 a month excluding the sale of her best products which are mostly zabshi phob. The business allows Sangay and her family to live a pretty comfortable life in Paro.
“Since my childhood days, I used to help my father with the traditional lathe system. That is when I picked up the skills. Shazo was an occupation for our generation. I believe it is fate that I learned it without any hurdles.”
Sangay recalls the 98th National Day celebrations in 2005. A group of artisans contested as part of the celebrations.
She prevailed over other contestants who were mostly men. It was at that moment she got the opportunity to meet with the Great Fourth who advised her to continue practising the art. That was her turning point.
“During the national day celebration, I contested with my two uncles in making a traditional wooden cup, also called a phob. My assistant, who was peddling the lathe was also a girl then. When the whistle blew we started to convert a burr into a cup. I finished first so I was declared the winner in front of the Fourth Druk Gyalpo and the Queen Mothers. I was called upon and His Majesty advised me to not abandon the art. After that, I started procuring an electric motor and moved ahead.”
Sangay migrated to Paro for better market accessibility for her craft. It has been a rollercoaster of a ride but worth all the struggles.
Today, she is a proud mother of five and the owner of a newly constructed four-storey building in Paro, purchased through her earnings from her woodturning business.
She says all these have been possible because of her supportive spouse. Their union began through the old practice of child marriage, known as chungnyen, quite common back in the day.
“For almost seven years, my husband went to forests to collect burr while I stayed at home making the traditional cups. Then gradually we picked up the pace.”
“My wife does all the work but it is important to support working wives in any way possible. I help her do the heavy manual work such as shaping the burr. Sometimes people don’t bring the whole log to make the zabshi, in that case, we have to trim it and make the required shapes,” said Thuji, Sangay’s Husband.
From a humble beginning to a thriving entrepreneur, Sangay Dolma’s journey is a testament to what hard work and perseverance with a bit of determination can do to accomplish finer things in life.
Namgay Wangchuk, Paro
Edited by Phub Gyem
