The quaint village of Vedanthavadi, about 200 km southwest of Chennai, is a place of rice fields lined with tall coconut and Palmyra palms, meandering country roads, singular cottages, rock-solid peasants and earthy food.
In this farming community lives a young and gifted couple – T. Karthikeyan, 35, and his wife K. Neelaveni, 32 – who are at the forefront of saving Tamil Nadu’s dying art of making eye-catching and everyday handicraft from the dead palm leaf.
Sheltered from the sweltering sun, the couple sits serenely in their workshop, whittling palm leaves into earrings and pendants, just as people did centuries before.
But they have plied the trade for only seven years. They took it up only after decorative palm-leaf pieces at a friend’s home near Vellore caught their attention.
“Neelaveni was trying for a teaching job, but had a keen business sense too. She urged me to try the palm leaf jewellery,” said Karthikeyan, who was a design engineer with a manufacturing company in Coimbatore before he traded his white-collar job for a farmer’s plough.
Neelaveni has a master’s degree in mathematics and a bachelor’s degree in education. She is a native of Panuruti from the nearby district of Cuddalore.
The couple’s organic farm on three acres in their village in Tiruvannamalai district held them in good stead. They grew, and still do, rare and ancient paddy varieties as well as red maize. The yield has been good and the product well-received.
They made a name as producers of fine-quality rice.
They successfully harvested seven gunny sacks from 40 cents of land (one cent is 1⁄100 of an acre, or 435 square feet).
“We kept four bags and sold three at seed exhibitions. I’m glad I didn’t waste many years and returned to my passion, and to work for a social cause,” said Karthikeyan.
Exploring uncharted territories
The couple has a passion for jewellery, both professionally and as a hobby, and a passion for ancient crafts and their long history. But their newfound interest in the forgotten art of crafting palm-leaf jewellery posed many hurdles – foremost being their lack of training and the absence of any template to start with.
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Karthikeyan spent hours on YouTube and pored over literature on palm-leaf crafts, and passed on whatever he learnt to his wife.
“I watched the videos with great interest. Then again, I have a natural talent for creating anything I see. My design experience and technical background came in handy. Our palm-leaf jewellery came out well,” he said.
Sourcing material was another big challenge because the once ubiquitous Palmyra palms have made way for development projects and there weren’t many skilled tree climbers left in the entire district to fetch fronds from such dizzying heights.
The handful who could climb charged a bomb.
Karthikeyan’s search led him to a man in Ramanathapuram, who’s involved in the palm-leaf craft. He convinced him to send tender leaves at a pocket-friendly cost.
Bling from dead leaves
The couple has 12 varieties of jewellery – earrings, hair clips, hair bands, bangles, pendants et al. But their top-seller is their bridal set that includes the forehead ornament called Nethi Chutti and a hip band known as Oddiyanam.
They are cheaper compared to gold, and eco-friendly too, but in no way inferior in design and make. “Individual pieces are priced at Rs 30 to Rs 150, while a wedding set is between Rs 2,500 and Rs 3,000,” Karthikeyan said.
The leaves aren’t dyed, but left to reflect their natural pale green hue. Shiny coloured stones are embedded to give them the ornate look.
“People buy because of the novelty attached to them,” said Neelaveni, a mother of two daughters.
Some do doubt the quality and durability of the material.
“We explain how the Palmyra leaf served as a medium of writing centuries before paper was invented, and how they endure till date in great repositories of our literature,” she said.
The small accoutrements aside, Karthikeyan has crafted a 20-foot tall Shivlinga in three days for the village temple as well as an idol of god Ganesha.
The health of their business is nonetheless a rare exception in India, where traditional folk arts and crafts are gradually dying out with the passing of their makers. For the Karthikeyans, innovation and new product lines are keys to keeping the revenue stream flowing.
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“Agriculture and handicrafts are India’s pride and it motivates us to save our craft from extinction. My biggest reward would be if my children continue the craft,” said Neelaveni.
It’s a travesty that Palmyra, the state tree of Tamil Nadu and a part of its folklore, has fallen from favour.
Palm leaf products almost disappeared because of rampant clearing of Palmyra trees and the invasion of synthetic materials into modern life. But thanks to inspired individuals like the Karthikeyan couple, the future of the humble palm leaf appears to be in good hands.
The lead image at the top shows close-up jewellery and ornaments for girls (Photo by George Rajsekaran)
George Rajasekaran is a journalist based in Salem, Tamil Nadu.
