TIRUCHY: Clay stains the floor and the air smells of wet earth inside a small thatched house on Vellan Street in Kambarasampettai. This is where C Subbaiya (75), a visually challenged potter, has been shaping vessels by touch for more than six decades.
Subbaiya lost his eyesight in childhood and began working with clay after being trained by his father-in-law so that he would never have to depend on anyone. Over the years, touch, weight and sound have replaced sight, allowing him to judge thickness, balance and finish of clay pots with ease. “My hands know the size even if my eyes don’t,” he says.
The work, however, has become harder to sustain. The demand should have peaked this Pongal season, but continuous rain during the Tamil months of Karthigai and Margazhi delayed drying of pots and reduced output. “Earlier, I used to sell more than 1,000 pots during Pongal. Now it is only a few hundreds,” Subbaiya says.
Once surrounded by farmlands that generated steady festival demand, Kambarasampettai has gradually turned residential, sharply reducing local orders. Over the past decade, more than five pottery families in the locality have quit the trade as farmland shrank and demand collapsed. Subbaiya’s family is among the last surviving pottery households in the area.
Besides, rising raw material costs have added to the strain. Subbaiya’s son, Nallathambi, says a single load of clay now costs nearly Rs 20,000, while firewood and hay have also become more expensive. “It takes at least 15 days to turn raw clay into finished pots. The costs have overtaken the income,” he says, adding that they also receive seasonal orders for earthen lamps during Panguni and Chitirai months.
Working beside him every day is his wife, Kathaiyi (70), who helps correct shapes, dry vessels and prepare them for firing. “My father taught him this craft so he would never have to depend on anyone,” she says. Though his sons urge him to stop, Subbaiya refuses. “This work gives me respect. It keeps me alive,” he adds.
During lean months, the family depends on his Rs 1,000 monthly pension for the differently-abled and assistance under the Urimai Thogai scheme.
“If I get a small mechanised wheel, to replace this thatched roof with a concrete one and get financial help to expand the business, I can continue this craft and even train others,” he concludes.