I belong to a family of potters. I learnt pottery from my father who learnt it from his father. It’s the duty of women in our household to make the clay mixture. I mix a range of clay varieties to get the proper homogenous mud used in pottery. Pongal is the season for brisk sales. Earlier, people used to throng the shops at Arapalayam for buying earthen pots. Nowadays, the sales have come down by more than 80 per cent. We hardly sell hundred pots now. Earlier, we used to sell not less than a thousand. I make around Rs.7,000 during the Thai month and the rest of the year I sell for Rs.4,000. With whatever little I earned, I have successfully brought up my three children.
Making of Pongal pots starts from November onwards. These days, there’s a cap on river sand and clay in the city and hence we buy pots from villages surrounding Manamadurai. I make pots in four different sizes – the smallest priced at Rs.60 and the biggest we sell for Rs.400. Pot making requires expertise as the bottom has to be perfectly round. The circumference of the pot and the neck should be proportionate so that the pot sits on flat ground. We also paint the pots to attract customers. Some still keep up the tradition of cooking pongal in an earthen pot upon a chulha . The art of cooking pongal in a mud pot is an experience in itself. The pongal comes out tastier and nicer. It’s still very much the same way in the villages. People prefer newly bought mud pots in place of metal vessels. I have laid my wares well in advance, hoping that this Pongal will be a harbinger of fortune.
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