KOCHI: Many of us may have struggled to navigate the financial maelstrom. However, the outcome of the struggle depends upon a person’s will power and determination as shown by 62-year-old M V Paulose of Karukutty even as stormy seas never pass.A self-taught artist, landscaper and sculptor, Paulose was slowly limping back to financial stability with the help of his innovative plastic bottle boat when the pandemic struck. “I started as a landscaper, setting gardens and lawns. The work was sufficient to earn my bread and butter,” he said. However, after he developed eyesight issues, Paulose could no longer take up landscaping jobs.
While undergoing treatment for his eyesight, Paulose was completely out of work. “I’d gone to the abandoned quarry near my house to fish,” he said. Paulose managed to snag some rohu that day. “It suddenly dawned on me that if I had a boat, I could go to the centre of the quarry and fish properly,” he said.So, he made a small model of a boat using plastic water bottles.
“It easily floated on the water. So I decided to make one large enough for my fishing gear,” said Paulose. That was in 2019. Since then, Paulose has made three boats. “I have made boats for a resort in Idukki and a private individual,” he said.
According to him, the highest that he has been paid for his boat is Rs 15,000. “It depends on the people who order the contraption,” he added. Paulose doesn’t have any regular suppliers for the waste plastic bottles that he uses to make the boats. “I collect them from the waste heap,” he said adding it takes at least two months to make a boat.
“The number of bottles required to make a boat depends upon its size. It might vary between 2,000 to 5,000,” said Paulose who has made a vanchi (boat) out of plastic bottles for a film. “I was approached by a filmmaker to make a vanchi out of plastic bottles for a scene in his film. But to date, the person has neither taken the delivery of the vanchi nor paid my remuneration,” said Paulose. He said, “I have been told that the film has been postponed due to Covid. And shooting might not happen until next year.”
“But I need money to survive,” he added. Currently, Paulose is engaged in making a horse using concrete. “I received the order from the same resort that bought my plastic bottle boat earlier. I had been making clay figurines from the age of six and have won several prizes for them during my school days,” said Paulose who has not received any schooling in sculpturing. Paulose was dealt another blow when his wife fell ill with leptospirosis. “That was the last straw,” he added.