with ailing eyes 55yearold sanjeev kakade sits on his wooden chair firing up a burner mounted on his work bench to create fascinating articles using soda glass every dayover the years kakade has not only made glass masterpieces but also taught a few youths from the city the art of glassblowingfor over 25 years kakade has been making glass artefacts at kk scientific agencies near shivaji market the store was established by his father and uncle in 1968 to cater to apparatus requirements of industrial laboratoriesmy uncle was the head of department of the glassblowing department at national chemical laboratory while my father was working in the administration there along with some other colleagues they set up kk scientific agencies to manufacture glass apparatus for several industries with sufficient manpower they could undertake large scale production and deliveries however over time the manpower dwindled and i switched to manufacture of glass articles kakade explainedwhen kakade took over the store in 1992 with a new product range in mind he was sceptical of success i studied turning at iti and was doing a job before taking over the shop in 1992 i learnt the basics of glassblowing from my uncle and brotherinlaw they were primarily manufacturing laboratory equipment but when i took over i used the knowledge to experiment with other products now we manufacture a large variety of products ranging from pens stirrers show pieces idols of ganapati figurines of persons and animals glasses and a lot more he statedkakade said that he has been catering to several restaurants hotels and interior designers over the years we make products for retail sales and also customize designs as per the needs of the consumer people place orders for gifts to be distributed on occasions like birthday parties weddings and others an assortment of festive and seasonal products also sees a lot of demand we have made customized table lamps for restaurants and other unique products for various interior designers he statedthe prices of the products he stated depend on the time taken skill involved and uniqueness of design of the productaccording to kakade business was flourishing until the advent of chinese showpieces in the market shops like 4999 opened in the market around the year 2003 or 2004 which sold show pieces and idols at cheaper rates these mass produced items at competitive prices impacted the local glassblowing business significantly we are limited in terms of manpower and thus cannot take larger orders we can undertake only two jobs at day which makes it impossible to cater to larger orders he addedspeaking enthusiastically about his work and showcasing his talents of glassblowing kakade further added that the art of glassblowing is breathing its last in the city glassblowing wont survive much longer as there are now very few persons in pune involved in glassblowing i had taught some persons of which about four or five continue to practice glassblowing commercially now i recommend those interested in learning the art to only