Indian Lac bangles with the divine feminine

In the depths of the Kusum forest , there lived an old lady living beside a banyan tree in a wooden hut, known making lac bangles.

The insides of the wooden hut was a wooden table surrounded by four pidha chairs, while ground was neatly polished of epoxy resin. The interior was filled with a mattress called charpai covered in thick blue-green blankets with thick pillows.

Her belongings were tied in a huge thick bed spread like cloth with which she ties in a thick black rope. That was it.

The old lady despite her sedentary age her spirit remained active , and it showed in her body. She made lac bangles and the raw material for the bangles (lac) and sold it in the Jaipur's cities bangle shops.

Her opaquely colored gray hair was tied neatly in a bun, her forehead was marked with tilak, her eyes were lined with kohl. Her nose ring shined radiantly in the daylight and glittered in the moonlight despite being a simple gold hoop.

One day while walking in the forest to collect lac wearing her padukas , in the bright afternoon where the sun is just above her head with clouds chasing them, she stumbles upon a weird shaped banyan tree.

Everything was normal except it's arial roots they are usually pale first but darken as they reach the ground. However the roots seemed to be pale from the top to bottom.

The lac insects that covered the tree had a golden hue to them, on the approach of the old woman they fluttered away and in a short distance like a self made master-piece of a puzzle, they formed the image of the great Goddess Mahalakshmi.

Soon enough the beautiful Goddess structure started speaking as the old lady bowed and folded her hands in deep respect.

"Beloved child I know for years you are working hard , making lac bangles trying to their worth against glass bangles, look at the lac on this tree take them and go to Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh teach your skill to the glass making residents there, and see how your business transforms."

The old lady's eyes were brimming with joyful tears as the structure dismantled in thin air , she turned to look at the resin covered tree to have a closer look.

It wasn't the usual Rangeeni lac resin, the resin looked like it was made from the ashes of the stars, it was glittering like the floors of the heavens.

With a child like scream she immediately took herxe and started chopping the branches which contained the lac. After phunki removal she brings it to her hut to further process it.

She crushed the raw lac and and sieved through 8–12 mesh wire nets to obtain uniform grains. Then she proceeded to washed in large vats (manual stamping) or mechanical barrels to remove the deep red lac dye and lighter impurities.

She spread the resulting grains on the flat top of her hut above the staircase to dry them out giving them the name seedlac.

She melted the glittering grains in her self-made furnace and moulded them into blocks. After cooling she excitedly tied it in her cloth and took it to the city bus. After a gruesome 3 kilometer walk from the forest she reached the bus stand.

"This bus is to go to Uttar Pradesh" yelled the conductor standing in the entrance of the bus waving and blowing his whistle. The old lady stood there transfixed cannot contain her excitement enough to wait any longer.

She ran to the bus with the tied cloth luggage on her head and went to take a seat. She pulled out her savings and got a ticket as she closed her eyes to take a deep slumber.

293 kilometers and eight hours later she woke up from her dream , in which she saw Goddess Mahalakshmi directing her to go to Suhag Nagar. "The next stop is Firozabad yelled the conductor". As the bus stopped she groggily took out her luggage to get down.

The streets were chaotic with unpretty sounds everywhere , the old lady looked irritated as her stomach did while she fasts. The autos were screeching on top of their lungs to get their respective customers on board.

She waived in front of one of the autos to get in.

"How can I tie this ma in my auto ?" Said the driver referring to the cloth luggage.

"Tie it somehow I will give you extra money for it " Said the old lady

"Ok ma that will be 100 rupees plus the transportation charges to Suhag Nagar" Said the driver.

"Take it " Said the old lady while getting into the auto while the driver tied the cloth luggage securely to the top of the auto.

Within a span of 20 minutes she reached Suhag Nagar. The condition of the children she saw was beyond pathetic but the produce they made were fantastic. The children were making the glass bangles in very subtle light , long durations of which weakens the eye unable to bear normal bright light, giving them greater chances of going blind.

The bangles made of glass sure did look beautiful but was impractical and broke easily like a teenage heart in love.

The glass particles in the air could get into their eyes, skin , hair and lungs affecting their health in detrimental ways. She heard the pathetic coughs , and saw the lack of hygiene its citizens followed as a responsibility for public health. The children skipped their education to work in these factories to support their families , and could not even dream big let alone work for it , it would be nothing short of delusional.

The old lady rented a small teaching comparted hut and started arranging her belongings and displaying the blocks of unusually glittering lac. The small children naturally curious crept up to her window to get a sneak peak on what was shining so brightly. They were flabbergasted on this vision to behold the slivery glittering lac blocks were one among eternity of what they had never even thought of dreaming.

The old lady smiled warmly and invited the small kids inside, they all jumped happily as they walked in the hut. They all opened their mouths wide at the sight of the lac.

The lady made each kid sit straight in line and started teaching them how to make bangles made of lac.

"Materials Needed," she started

Raw lac (natural resin)

Wood dust / resin powder (for strength)

Natural dyes or pigments (red, green, yellow, etc.)

Coal stove or gas flame

Iron rod (bangle mandrel / salai)

Knife or flat iron tool

Water bowl

Decorations (stones, mirrors, beads, kundan, metal strips)

Cotton cloth

Oil or ghee (to prevent sticking)

Step 1: Preparing the Lac

Raw lac is cleaned to remove dust and impurities.

It is mixed with wood dust or resin powder to give strength.

Natural colors are added at this stage.

The mixture is kneaded like dough.

Step 2: Heating the Lac

A small portion of lac is heated over a coal stove or open flame.

Lac becomes soft and stretchy when heated.

It must not burn — only soften.

Step 3: Rolling the Lac

The soft lac is rolled into a thin rope (like clay) using hands or a flat surface.

Hands are often oiled slightly.

Step 4: Wrapping on the Iron Rod

The hot lac rope is wrapped around a heated iron rod (bangle size).

Ends are pressed together to form a circle.

The joint is smoothed using a knife or iron tool.

Step 5: Shaping the Bangle

The bangle is rotated on the rod.

Thickness and roundness are adjusted evenly.

Water is sprinkled lightly to cool and set the shape.

Step 6: Decoration (Most Important Part)

While the lac is still warm:

Stones, mirrors, beads, or metal strips are pressed into it.

Designs are made using heated tools.

This step requires great skill and speed.

Step 7: Final Heating & Polishing

The bangle is lightly reheated to secure decorations.

It is rubbed with a cotton cloth to give shine.

Step 8: Cooling & Removal

The bangle is fully cooled.

Carefully removed from the iron rod.

Checked for cracks or loose stones.

Final Result-

Flexible, shiny, colorful handmade lac bangles.

Each bangle is uniquely beautiful and eco-friendly.

Since the lac looked like liquid glittery glass it gained popularity over the glass bangles as it was sold to the markets. As the old lady got more and more money from the production of the bangles, she hired workers to get resin from the same tree in the Jaipur's Kusum forest. The tree seemed immortal and so were the divine female lac insects , they kept giving tonnes of the luminous lac and were sent back to the old lady in Firozabad.

As the business grew the old lady funded the local activists in Firozabad who helped give the children there education, healthcare and overall safety from all kinds of abuse.

Due to this incident , the health and future of the children improved directly improving the lifestyles of many families in Firozabad. No one had to depend only on healthstaking glass bangle making to feed their stomachs anymore. They could use the eco friendly lac that glittered like their numerous new coming dreams.

The old lady was none other than Goddess Kali with mind and body of Devi Saraswathi and Goddess Lakshmi who came to Firozabad to bring back their prosperity to her devotees who called her with all their heart and with honor.

Devi never lets her devotees to perish and so she has come to save them.

Yada Yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati suvrata abhyutanam adharmasya thadha prakriti sambhava

“Whenever righteousness (dharma) declines and unrighteousness (adharma) rises, O virtuous one, the divine feminine manifests herself.”