What if the winnow becomes a thing of the past? It is this question that made Ananda Perumal look at the hand-woven contraption with renewed interest. The Tirunelveli-based artisan, who crafts intricate works of art with coconut shells, says that even in the interior villages of Tamil Nadu, the act of removing stones and chaff from grains using winnows, is becoming a rare sight. “Cleaned, packaged grains have made our lives easier, but what of the artisans who make winnows for a living?” asks the 43-year-old, a zero-waste wedding decorator and interior designer who has designed organic stores across Tamil Nadu using natural material.
“This led me on a quest in search of the winnow makers in my region,” says Ananda, who visited women-run craft clusters at Surandai and Alangulam near Tirunelveli. “The artisans continue to make winnows with palm leaves, but they are being used by beedi rollers in the region instead.” Ananda, whose Kavin Art Gallery was among the first to popularise coconut shell decoratives, jewellery, and kitchenware in the State, decided to repurpose these tools as wall clocks.
“The design is inspired by a clock I spotted in Kerala many years ago during my travels,” he says. Once the clocks took shape, Ananda put them up at places he did the interiors as his signature. “They soon gained popularity,” says Ananda, adding that it eventually found its way into the home of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly speaker M Appavu and Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan’s office. The clocks, that consist of needles mounted over winnows, with numbers crafted out of coconut shells, exude a rustic charm.
Today, Ananda works with a team of seven women who weave palm winnows. They also create coconut shell craft. They work at a unit at his home at Kondanagaram village 16 kilometres from Tirunelveli. “The latest additions to our coconut shell artefacts include QR code scanner stands and logos of companies that can be used as pin-ons,” he explains adding that the women artisans operate under Porunai Eco Crafters. “After training them during their initial days on the job, I now help market their products digitally,” he says, “Eventually, they should become self-sustainable.”
Known as muram or sulavu in Tamil, winnows can be woven using palm leaves as well as bamboo. “We are working towards weaving them in different shapes, rather than the set traditional patterns,” he explains. Ananda is constantly travelling for interior designing. “When I do, I spread the word on the crafts that thrive in and around Tirunelveli,” he says.
Ananda’s ultimate aim, is to create a crafts village at his home town. “Every time I visit a new city for events, I make it a point to invite people to Tirunelveli to learn our crafts,” he says. From the wooden toys of Ambasamudram to clay pots of Kuniyur and Pattamadai grass mats, he says there is plenty to observe and appreciate in Tirunelveli. “I hope to create a model in which people can visit our village, stay there for a few days experience our crafts,” he says.
Visit them on Instagram @porunaiecocrafters.
