WITH the advent of cheaper alternatives to make domestic utensils, the use of the heavier pewter has dwindled in Bangladesh. Beating the odds, some seven to eight families of Kasharipara in Uttar Dariabad of Jamalpur's Islampur continue to make such items out of this tin (25 percent) and copper (75 percent) alloy, and hold on to this centuries-old heritage, the adherents of which were once deemed aristocratic.

Photo: Fahd Mannan