When lakhs of people across the State harvested vegetables, last week, cultivated as part of the government's ‘Onathine Oru Muram Pachakari’ scheme, Sanu V.V., a 50-year-old woodcarver, from Kalavamkodam near Cherthala too came up with 17 types of vegetables and a basket.
His vegetables were not grown in soil but have been carved out of wood, a gesture of solidarity with farmers and all those part of the campaign.
“When the government launched the ‘Onathine Oru Muram Pachakari’ project in June for this year’s Onam, I was excited but at the same time a bit disappointed. My enthusiasm was about joining the mass movement for the production of safe-to-eat vegetables. On the other hand, there was a scarcity of land. But it did not stop my family from cultivating vegetables for Onam on the available space at house premises, albeit on a very small scale. The government initiated the campaign with good intentions and it should be promoted. I carved vegetables out of wood as a small gesture of solidarity,” Mr. Sanu says.
Mr. Sanu hand-carved the vegetables and basket out of Acacia mangium with stunning reality in 40 days. The vegetables include pumpkin, beans, brinjal, cucumber, bitter gourd, drumstick, carrot, ginger, chili, and so on. As a professional woodcarver, he has chiseled numerous scenes from the life of Jesus Christ, Lord Krishna, Saraswati, Lakshmi, Sree Narayana Guru among others in a career spanning more than 30 years, but it is for the first time he did intricate designs of vegetables on wood.
“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I have had a lot of free time in recent months. I used it to the best use by carving vegetables out of wood. I was keen to complete the work before Onam. All the vegetable designs and basket are fully made of wood,” he says, adding that he plans to start a YouTube channel to showcase his works.
More than 60 lakh families in the State joined the ‘Onathinu Oru Muram Pachakkari’ campaign and cultivated different types of vegetables. The Agriculture Department had distributed vegetable seedlings and vegetable seed kits for the successful implementation of the scheme.
