[This piece of article is provided by Ms. SONAM DHINGRA who is a prominent art teacher at City Vocational Public School, Meerut, by profession and an artist herself. She has done in-depth research on indian arts and crafts.]

While on the one hand, the large-scale demand and high prices of the artworks by Madhubani women reflects the empowerment of women and recognition of both the village art and women at the global level, on the other hand, there is a paradox as the commercialization of the art came only through the sahukar (middleman), who symbolizes the financial exploitation of the artists. The sahukar becomes the major profit-maker while the artists get meagre returns for their work. The persistent lack of rainfall and sole dependence of the local families on the income generated from the paintings over the last couple of decades have also increased poverty in this region.

The existence of a high degree