Steps in order

When the children in 'Kalakritiyon ka Bharat' (your book, Poorvi, pages 134 and 135) tell how their crafts are made, they use little words that show the ORDER of the steps. On page 137 your book puts these words in a box: to begin, first, then, after that, next, finally, at last.

'To begin' and 'first' come at the start. 'Then', 'after that' and 'next' come in the middle, for the steps that follow. 'Finally' and 'at last' come at the end, for the very last step.

Here are Priyaranjan's steps for Dhokra, the metal craft of his tribe in Odisha, in this order. To begin, a figure is made with clay and dried, and it is covered with a layer of wax. Then the fine details are carved on the wax. After that, the figure is covered with clay and put in the fire. The wax melts and comes out through small openings, and this leaves an empty space. Next, brass scrap is melted and poured into that empty space, and the liquid metal takes the same shape the wax had. Finally, the outer layer of clay is taken off and the metal figure is finished.

Chitra and Balamurali use these words too. Chitra begins her coconut shell steps with 'first' and ends them with 'at last', when the shell is polished to make it shine.