THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Ramesh Kumar has been a taxi driver for the past 25 years. Now, he has entered the Indian Book of Records for a unique feat writing the national anthem on a one-inch palm leaf within 12 mins.
Clam and focused, he gives life to palm leaves, holding the writing instrument known as ‘Narayam’. The instrument was used in south India, Sri Lanka, and nearby Asian regions since antiquity to write on palm leaves.
Ramesh has no teachers. “No one taught me this. I approached many experts and no one was willing to teach me. I started from scratch, learning to write each Malayalam letter. It took almost two years to learn the craft,” he says.
It was his friend who told him to try for the records when he saw how meticulously Rajesh inscribes on leaves. “I requested 15 minutes for the test, but I finished within 12 minutes. And that set the record,” Ramesh explains.
Ramesh first heard about palm writing during a conversation with one of his taxi clients, who was an expert in the field. “He talked about the dying art and since then I strived to learn the skill,” says Ramesh. To acquire tools and more information about the craft, he also visited a few places in Tamil Nadu and other states. A long journey that he started way back in 2015.
“When I visited craftsmen, they used to show me their tools. However, none of them would lend me one to recreate,” he says. He brings raw palm leaves from various places and processes them into suitable writing leaves. “He is very committed; he does all of this after working daily as a taxi driver,” says his wife Resmi Prabha. Now, Ramesh is also teaching his daughters Vaishnavi and Vaidhehi the craft.
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