While people consider cement as a material fit only for heavy works like construction of buildings and bridges, at Pakkayil, a small village in Vadakara, all the residents eke out a decent living by running units of concrete products. At present as many as 48 registered units are functioning here.
With 75 years of experience in the field, Pakkayil has become synonymous with concrete products. “If you are in search of concrete products to embellish your home, your search for quality products ends here,” says president of the society of concrete traders in Vadakara, P Anandan. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Wayanad, Malappuram, Kasargod and Palakkad are their major markets.
The production works in progress at each unit are more than enough to explain in detail how concrete can be made into beautiful objects of art. In their words, wonderful and endless varieties that can be made out of cement are yet to be identified. According to those in the trade, the method of making cement pottery and home decor is simple. Earlier, large concrete jars which can be used to store water used to be the highlight of Pakkayil. The market became dull when plastic vessels replaced concrete jars. During the period, the trade itself was on the edge of extinction. “Realising the situation and the obstacles on our way to success, we shifted our focus gradually from pots and other vessels to home furnishings,” he says.
"Beautifying one's home is a personal choice. When people approach us with a plan to decorate their homes, we show them all the available materials in our units. We also make arrangements to show them products in the neighbouring units also," says Dineshan Kaiyyil Peedikayil, a concrete products maker who embarked on the trade following in the footsteps of his father Chandran. There is a large and growing demand for this artwork. The products include concrete pillars resembling bamboo or teak, sopanam, dividers, windows, shelf, footwear shelf, roof decorations, garden pots, flower vase with design, ornamental figures, concrete table, jars, concrete fountain and many more. But at the same time, all is not fine with the traders. The escalating price of sand, the ban imposed on sand mining and the disturbing decrease in the number of employees have cast a shadow over their work. While some of them depend on the black market for sand, several others slow down their work since they cannot afford the high cost of sand. “There are several people who transport sand at night, but we are not ready to violate rules. Hence we are facing a difficult time,” says K P Pavithran, another trader.