IDUKKI: Gift boxes with Kerala sarees, vibrant-coloured bangles, manjadi (bead tree seed) ornaments, vaalkannadi (traditional mirror), bindi....
So goes the list of items forming the aesthetic core of ‘Kannanthali’, an online brand popular with customers in India and abroad smitten with the vintage style of Kerala.
Behind the dazzle of the products lies the never-say-die spirit of Neethu Paulson, the owner of the brand. Leaving behind her difficult past, she has gone on to publish books besides launching her own business.
Born out of wedlock, Neethu was placed in the care of her maternal grandparents in Kunchithanny in Idukki district. The ensuing stigma led to Neethu facing social exclusion, discrimination, and isolation even from friends and family members. While her mother married twice after her birth she could not take her daughter along in either of the relationships.
To escape the trauma, Neethu moved out at the age of 15 and started working as a helper at a convent in Kalamassery. “The long working hours didn’t bother me initially as I had already learnt to cope with struggles,” Neethu tells TNIE.
“But when things turned worse, I quit the job.”
Later, she registered herself with a home nurse recruiting company in Kochi and worked in various households.
Neethu recalls that she met her soulmate, Paulson, at the Kottayam MCH while accompanying her mother, who met with an accident in 2007. Paulson had come to the hospital for the treatment of his brother. Their friendship gradually grew into a relationship.
Neethu then went to Pune in search of better fortunes but working as a home nurse at a Malayali household there proved a struggle. She returned to Kunchithanny to work as a sales girl at a textiles shop in Adimaly. But the passing of her grandfather presented new problems, living as they were at a desolate house.“My grandmother was worried over my safety. When she started moving to relatives’ houses every night to ensure my protection, it began traumatising me again. At that point, I decided to get married and move out on my own,” she says. By the time, Neethu had turned 20.
She met marriage expenses
As Paulson had not settled yet, Neethu decided to meet their marriage expenses herself. “I had Rs 30,000 as savings and a few gold ornaments I had bought. We vowed to stand with each other come rain or shine,” Neethu says. They tied the knot in 2010 at a function in Kunchithanny.
To rise up in life, Neethu began writing on social media. Acceptance in the digital realm gave her the confidence to pen her first book ‘Jimikki’ in 2021. That was followed by her autobiographical work ‘Neelavaka Poloru Penkutti’ and short story collections ‘Mookkuthi’ and ‘Rosamma’, which registered decent sales.
“Starting an online business was a long-time dream. Kannanthali was launched in 2023, aimed primarily at people who loved handcrafted jewellery and the ‘90s style,” she says.
Neethu runs her business from a temporary shed built on the land they have purchased in Thodupuzha. The couple manage the manufacture and sale of products themselves, supported by their two sons. Now, they are set to realise another long-cherished dream -- their own house.