Kannan arrived at Kasimedu 16 years ago as a newly-wed 25-year-old looking for a livelihood. He did what he was good at: he went to sea. Every day, he observed an old man mending catamarans by the wharf. Kannan paused to watch him from a distance and moved on — he never attempted to talk to him. Fifteen years went by and the old catamaran maker’s visits dwindled owing to his ill health. Then, Kannan revealed to the fishermen of Kasimedu that he was a catamaran-maker himself.
“I didn’t want to disturb the old man’s business,” smiles Kannan. “When he couldn’t work, I realised I could help the marathukaaranga — they needed someone to make and fix catamarans.” Today, Kannan is the only existing catamaran-maker in Kasimedu who practises the craft. The handful that learnt the technique from their ancestors has moved on to other jobs.
“I didn’t go to school. My father was a well-known catamaran-maker at Nadu Kuppam in Puducherry where I was born. He would work under a pandal in the kuppam from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.,” recalls Kannan. Kannan spent his childhood observing the techniques behind the creation of a catamaran. The swoosh of the saw, the whoosh of the hand plane…he took it all in. “Father initially asked me to help around; he gradually introduced me to the process,” he says.
The craft came to the rescue of the fishermen of Puducherry during the post-tsunami period. When they wanted to start a new life with the relief money from the government, the catamaran was their first option. The fishermen approached Kannan since he was known for his work. “I made several catamarans then,” he recalls. “Once their fortunes improved, the fishermen sold them for bigger fibre boats.”
Kannan has travelled to places such as Nagapattinam to make catamarans. “Those that father built are completely different from what I make today,” he says. “Since fishermen depended on catamarans for their living, father ensured they were sturdy enough to face heavy waves. He would place an ‘anda’ at the front end to break waves that hit the catamaran and deflect water from its occupants.” He adds that his father polished the wood so that there weren’t uneven surfaces that might damage the net. “He spent one day to build a catamaran. For a set of five, he was paid around Rs.5,000.”
Catamarans of the present time in the region, though, are simple set-ups that consist of five to six lengths of wood. “It takes me one day to make one set of five today,” explains Kannan. “If there are orders, I work with my tools far from the crowd at the fishing harbour.” Kannan saws and chops the wood till he achieves the required size — 16 mulams long (one mulam equals 18 inches) and 9” wide. “I then tie the logs together. A catamaran can have five or six logs.” Catamaran-makers have jargons for every part of the structure — the side logs, for instance, are called ‘kombu’.
Kannan says that catamarans need to be serviced once every year. “The wood used is from Kerala — it’s the variety that’s employed to make matchsticks and coffins,” he explains. He adds that catamaran-makers still exist by the city’s coast. “But they are probably very old and don’t practise since most fishermen have switched to fibre boats. Apart from the marathukaaranga , only a handful of fishermen use catamarans for fishing specific varieties such as mathi.” Kannan holds the craft close to his heart. “I learnt it from my father…I want to put it to use.” He hasn’t spoken to his father for 15 years now. “There was a misunderstanding,” he sighs. “But when I left father’s house for the last time, he asked me to take his tools. I still use them.”
