I am…Surendran Nair

Surendran Nair Photo: Saraswathy Nagarajan

Occupation: Runs outlet for products of cottage industries

Are you looking for something in specific? Then I can tell you whether I have it or not. If not, perhaps I can get it for you? Almost ninety per cent of what I sell are handmade – clay pots for various uses, terracotta containers and artefacts, split cane baskets (vatti), winnowing trays (muram), grinding stones, bamboo measures, serving spoons made of coconut shell, coir ropes …

You know, several passers by drop in when they see the display of earthen ware outside my shop. Lot of tourists take this route to go to Kovalam and invariably many of them end up buying something or the other.

I used to work in the Khadi Board outlet at Ayurveda College Junction. Once I retired from service, I started this outlet at Edagramam, Karumam, selling flower pots and cooking pots. Initially, it was kept in a room in my house. Less than a year ago, I built this space in front of my house.

There is a misconception that people don’t buy these things anymore. On the contrary, I feel, demand has increased. Many consumers are concerned about their health and so they are going back to their roots to rediscover a healthy lifestyle, which begins in the kitchen. When I understood what sells, I started sourcing the products I needed from different places. For instance, the reddish clay utensils and pots are from Thozhukkal in Neyyattinkara. I go there with my son and select what I need. Since I am 79, my children are a little anxious if I travel alone.

Different kinds of vatti and muram are bought from the market in Nedumangad. The black coloured pots, which have many takers, is used for for cooking fish. Those are bought from Alappuzha while the grinding stones, stone pestles etc. are from Tamil Nadu. The coir ropes are supplied by a person who buys from the women who make it.

Many of these traditional clay utensils have multiple uses. This ‘uruli’ used to be made of brass and bronze. Now, these are made in terracotta and clay and are used to hold magazines, flowers, plants…

Will you talk to my daughter while I help this customer choose what she wants? See, she was passing by when she saw the earthen dishes and decided to check out what was there in the shop. I don’t need any publicity. This is more than enough.

You know what she bought? She came to buy one clay dish and ended by buying two. This is the age of gas stoves and electric cookers but I can tell you that there are several takers for clay stoves that use firewood.

Certain cooks insist on such stoves for cooking meat, payasam and rice. They insist that the taste is different. Those who live in the countryside also buy such stoves for their homes. They get the firewood from their neighbourhood and so it is affordable for them.

My daughter and son live just behind this shop and they help me. My son is working in the city, my daughter, Sudha Jayakumar, is a homemaker. She looks after the accounts. This outlet keeps me busy and I get to meet interesting people who drop in. Moreover, I am helping traditional craftsmen keep alive their skills and legacy.

(A weekly column on men and women who make Thiruvananthapuram what it is)