Occupation: Sells khadi
This is Nassar, who hails from Tirur in Malappuram. He’s one of my regular customers. I have many customers like him who come from all across Kerala to buy khadi. Many of them are party workers but a fair amount of them are office goers, government employees who now have been mandated to wear khadi to work once a week. I get a lot of women customers too, especially young women who come in search of dress material in different hues.
The best sellers are always white khadi material and dhotis, but nowadays there are a lot of takers for khadi shirting in various colours too. I also sell garlands that are made of khadi, which are used to adorn portraits of politicians. Even though it’s Gandhi Jayanti this week, I can’t say that business has picked up. It’s more or less as usual. The real rush is during election time actually, when the demand for white shirting material and dhotis increases exponentially. Then again, every day it’s busy here. My customers keep me on my toes from the moment I open up shop at around 8 a.m. till I close for the day at 8 p.m.
The beauty of khadi is that it is light and airy and very comfortable to wear in our muggy climate. The material lasts longer when it is washed and starched. The price per metre of the shirting material depends on the thickness and quality of the yarn. I stock two kinds of khadi – pure khadi and khadi with polyester mix, with the former being more expensive. Dhotis come in single and double varieties.
The material is sourced from across India – Bhagalpur in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu…not so much from Kerala, save for the fine muslin khadi that the state is known for.
The shop, Trivandrum Khadi Bhandar, at Ayurveda College Junction, is one of seven or eight private enterprises in the city that sell khadi. It was started by my late father, P. Ananthakrishnan, some 55 years ago. He used to work in a khadi manufacturing unit in Kanyakumari before he set up shop here. We are natives of Nagercoil, who became ‘Tamilians’ when the states were divided on the basis of language.
My father was a staunch follower of Gandhi as you can see from the two portraits here. He had this big portrait in black and white painted by an artist called T. Nataraj all those years ago. I am determined to retain the shop as it is where the stamp of my father is everywhere, right from the portraits to the glass-fronted cupboards where we store the material.
I am 46 years old and a graduate in commerce but have been helping my father run the shop since childhood onwards. I know the trade and have a flair for selling, so it was natural that I follow in his footsteps. Nowadays, my brother also helps out. I live near Gandhari Amman Kovil with my wife, Ranga, and two school-going children, Nandini, a Plus Two student, and Karthik, who is in class five. I don’t think that they should follow in my footsteps, though. They are bright kids and should concentrate on academics.
Now, will you excuse me? Another of my regular customers is here.
(A weekly column on the men and women who make Thiruvananthapuram what it is)
