D Ramana and his father D Chalapathi Rao come from a traditional family of leather puppeteers called Tolu Bommalata (tolu means leather in Andhra Pradesh and bommalata means puppeteer). Their ancestors migrated to Andhra Pradesh from Maharashtra more than 150 years ago. These families now mostly inhabit Dharmavaram and Guntur districts of Andhra. Ramana learnt the craft of making leather puppets from his father Chalapathi Rao, himself a master craftsman, having been awarded the National Award in 1988 and the Shilp Guru Award in 2003. Ramana lives in a joint family along with his parents, brothers and their families. In all, there are 18 members in their family. Ramana has practiced leather craft for nearly 20 years. The whole family is usually involved in different stages of making the fine leather artifacts such as lampshades, puppets and leather partitions. Ramana's brother Venkatesh and his wife Sunanda assist him. He is also assisted by his own wife Prabhavati and his children. Ramana has five school going daughters Hanumanta, Durga, Chandra and Lakshmi and one son Prakash. Nimmalakunta, the village where Ramana and his family live, is home to about 20 other families engaged in leather craft. Most of these families belong to the Chitrakara sub caste - a sub caste denoting artist/painter. The craft of making leather puppets or Tolu Bommalu, which they practice, is quite an old craft. References to it are found as early as the 12th century. Only in the last 30 years or so, have the Tolu Bommalata moved from making only traditional puppets such as figures of Gods and Godesses to making other decorative artifacts such as leather lampshades and partitions. They have been forced to do this by the dwindling demand for their puppets. In earlier times, these puppets were bought by people in the village as toys and were also much in demand for local puppet shows based on stories from epics such as Ramayana and Mahabharata. Now, with the advent of modern means of entertainment such as television, traveling puppet shows have become far fewer in number, leading to falling demand for the attractive Tolu Bommalu puppets. Ramana and his family members also engage in agriculture to supplement their family income. They grow rice and groundnuts and carry on farming throughout the year. Ramana's son is now inclined to take up farming in a bigger way, because of the uncertainty in demand for their leather craft. When we asked Ramana about what problems he faces in continuing the legacy of this craft, he mentioned rising input costs of leather and the lack of recognition for his craft which makes it difficult to find a sustainable market for the leather artifacts. He said that while the Indian government does its bit to encourage artisans like him by enabling them to participate in government sponsored handicrafts fairs, this is not sufficient. Finally Ramana says, "I want Prakash, my son, to continue practicing our family craft, just as I did, learning from my father, but I hope that we get support to be able to adapt our traditional craft to meet the demands of today's buyers. Otherwise, our craft will not last beyond the next generation."