That she went to China in 2018 to attend an art festival in Kunming has no connection with her name. She has always been known as China, derived from the Bengali expression chai na, or “don’t want”, having been born as the sixth child of her parents, who already had three daughters and didn’t want any more.
“I hope they named me in jest and not in irritation,” says China Pal, 45, who has carried forward her late father’s profession of idol-making and who looks after her mother, now in her mid-nineties. She is today a respected member of Kolkata’s idol-making fraternity that is based in the riverside settlement of Kumartuli and has won numerous honours and made appearances in several high-profile events in the recent years. Ahead of this year’s Durga Puja, she will appear in the commercial of a top jewellery brand; the shooting took place recently and she was required to paint the eyes of the goddess.
