At first glance, Andretta in Himachal Pradesh presents an array of familiar visuals associated with a place that borders tourist towns — steel-framed momo stalls, travel counters with colourful paper stamps to ferry you to the farthest reaches of the Himalayas, and general stores that sell everything from local soaps to souvenirs.
However, this nondescript village, around nine kilometres from Palampur, is home to one of India’s oldest pottery studios, Andretta Pottery. Last year, in October, I stumbled upon it accidentally, after navigating a few alleyways and rundown shops. The studio was a world of its own — young students worked dexterously on calcified kilns, structuring vases and pots into ovoid, pomiform and pear shapes. The history of the place dates back to the 1980s and the efforts of the late Sardar Gurucharan Singh, who was among the first studio potters in India.
