No time for mourning, will first finish his work, say kin of deceased idol-maker

MUMBAI: The city’s biggest Ganpati mandals, which literally earned their stature owing to the 25-ft tall idols crafted by moortikar

Vijay Khatu

, are in a state of shock and disbelief after his sudden death.

Khatu passed away at age 63 after suffering a

heart attack

on Wednesday. On Sunday evening, the Chinchpoklicha Chintamani Mandal organized a condolence meeting for him.

Unarguably the most prominent

idol-maker

of the city, Khatu was born to Ramkrishna, a millworker-turned-sculptor. It was he who pioneered the trend of tall picturesque idols that rose 25ft and beyond. Mandals, like Ganesh Gully, Khetwadi 11th Lane, Akhil Chandanwadi, Chinchpoklicha Chintamani, Kamathipura Ganesh and Upanagarcha Raja in Borivli, proudly displayed his name in their pandals and as their calling card.

“He worked a stressful job certainly and was sleep deprived,” said his brother Rajan Khatu, also an idol-maker of repute. “Although he was feeling unwell in recent weeks, he would avoid getting a check-up saying what if the doctors advised him to get admitted to hospital? He kept saying the discomfiture was only acidity.”

Ganesh Vadvel, executive president of the Khetwadi mandal agreed. “The stress of working 24x7, handling 70-80 artisans and hundreds of mandals is not easily borne. But what a master craftsman! I still remember the Ramavtar and Tirupati Ganeshas he crafted for us.”

Khatu’s daughter Reshma, son Rohan and a loyal band of moortikars like Raju Shinde who have trained under him cannot afford the luxury of mourning as there are scores of orders to complete ahead of

Ganeshotsav

. “We have already despatched three idols to Gujarat, Kolhapur and Uttarakhand. All his orders will be delivered in time,” said Rajan.

Reshma said, “His sudden passing has shattered us. But the time for mourning is not now. We will grieve only after his unfinished work is complete.”