| I am indeed grateful to the Indian Ceramic Society for
giving me the honour of delivering the first lecture in
memory of the late Ish war Das Varshnei ( 1880-1949), a
great poineer of the Indian glass industry. Known as "the
father of the Indian glass industry, he was mainly responsible
for the creation of the nucleus from which the
modern Indian glass industry grew. About 75 years ago,
many an enthusiastic youngman took training in the
technology and craft of glass making from I. D. Varshnei
and his colleagues at the Paisa Fund Glass Works, and
later on set up their own glass plants where scores of
others were trained in glass making. In this connection,
the names of many stalwarts come to my mind, like
Vishnu Dutta, S. P. Ogale, R. D. Chandorkar and S. J.
Savant, who themselves became prominent leaders of the
glass industry. The Indian glass industry was then in its
infancy, and in the face of many a hurdle from the then
rulers of the country and competition from Japan and
Europe, these stalwarts had to struggle with great tenacity
and doggedness. |
