Twenty-nine-year-old S Dhanam is all smiles. She proudly recollects the day she went to the town nearby and bought a mobile phone for her husband. “It cost ₹1,700 rupees and I was still left with some money, so I got two plastic chairs for my kids,” she says. Her neighbour, 19-year-old M Sudha, chimes in to say that she bought a new nose pin, an anklet and even earrings with her income; her family is planning to get her married soon. Dhanam and Sudha are women from the Irula tribe living in MGR Nagar, close to Mamallapuram. For the first time in their lives, these women are experiencing economic independence by doing embroidery work for the Kanimar project since the past few years. The shop is named Kanimar after the goddess the Irulas worship.
“Most of these young women had learnt embroidery briefly when they were in school. Compared to tailoring, doing embroidery was more feasible for them,” says Curtis John, founder of the Kanimar Embroidery project. An American social entrepreneur and a certified scuba diving instructor, he shuttles between Mamallapuram and Auroville. Kalathavy, a tailor employed by John, uses the cotton sourced by him to design cushion covers, mats and bags. These finished products are then handed over to the women from the village. “About 30 women aged between 18 and 55 come periodically to collect the products and needles, threads, and beads, and after few weeks, they return the products with their embroidery on it,” says John.
“Embroidery work by these women is a unique expression and therefore cannot be replicated. There may be imperfections, but they make it splendid. Initially, they were unsure of what pattern to work on. I suggested they try the ‘pulli kolam’ pattern as they are familiar with it,” says John, who pays these tribal women anywhere between ₹ 200 to 1,000 per embroidery depending on the work. When John retired from his government job in the US, he was inclined to take up some service-oriented initiative and his first choice was South India. “The fascination for South Indian culture and people started when I studied social anthropology for undergraduation,” says John. He landed in Chennai in January 2003, and spent his initial days exploring and travelling around the country. “When I visited Mamallapuram, I fell in love with the town. Later in 2004, when the tsunami struck the coast, I got involved in various relief works. Later I organised tailoring classes for women in and around the town. That is when I came across the Irula community, and decided to focus on their upliftment. Five years ago, the Kanimar embroidery project was launched.”
Jagada NP, the coordinator for the Kanimar project, brings together the women from neighbouring Irula settlements and trains them. She says, “They are actively participating in this embroidery project as it fetches them extra income. These women who used to make bricks or do agriculture labour work were rendered jobless in the recent years. But with this project they earn an average of ₹2,000 per month, and some who work faster make a little more.” The terrace of Jagada’s house doubles up as the community centre where the ladies come to learn embroidery.
In Jeeva Nagar, some Irula men who had served as bonded labourers for 12 to 15 years, doing embroidery work on saris for textile retailers, have been released and resettled here. Gopi and his sister Kumari were resettled at Panjam Theerthi village along with other rescued families. “Gopi, Kumari and Chinna Raj are extremely talented in Tambour French style embroidery and beading (Kattil embroidery as these women refer to it), and they are happy to teach this art to others in the community,” says John.
Before setting up the shop, he would ship these products to the UK and the US to be sold at the flea markets there. John is trying to develop varied products such as table liners, katta pai and wall hangings as the demand for these are higher. When they participated in By Hand From The Heart in February this year, their products were sold out.
For Selvi K, Kullammal V, Sundari Krishnan and others living in these Irula settlements, free time is used for embroidery. “We take up this work in the afternoons and in the night while watching TV. John has supplied us with solar lamps as well,” says Sokki, a mother of four children at Panjam Theerthi.
Kanimar is located at 45 East Raja Street, Mamallapuram. 9003277960
