https://csim.in/conversations/Conversations-November2012.pdf

On a lazy Sunday morning, I set out to document the lives of Narikuravas who live in Chennai. The traffic was smooth, and in less than 30 minutes I reached my destination—Kottur. I parked the car at a distance and walked towards the market, where my contact Vijaya resides. Half-way through, I called her to get for directions to reach her place. 

“Where are you? I shall send my son Udayakumar to lead you home. He is wearing a blue T-shirt and a beige coloured bermuda,” said Vijaya.

I waited around the corner until Jayakumar arrived and we walked through the narrow market lanes that was slushy due to the recent rains. The smell of fish was strong, and I was careful not to slip. Jaykumar stopped abruptly and pointed to a two-storied house and said with pride: “We live here.” 

I thanked him for leading the way and entered the premise. In the verandah, there were three men making bead chains and in the centre was a portable DVD player screening a recent Tamil movie. While they were engrossed in the movie as well as in their work, I slowly went inside Vijaya’s home.

Vijaya was seated at the floor busy making a bead chain that is worn usually by the devotees of Lord Ayyappa. She welcomed me with her warm smile and offered me a chair to sit on. But, I chose to sit beside her.

To put her at ease, I initiated the conversation by saying, “I feel bad for disturbing you while at work. You can speak to me and continue to make the chain.” 

“No. I can do this later,” she replied. 

“Well, you need a lot of concentration for doing this as it involves a lot of beads and knots,” I said.

“No. In fact, I can watch television and make the bead chain at the same time,” she replied with confidence.

“So, what is your favourite television channel? I probed. 

“I like only action movies and watch the ‘Movies Now’ channel. My favourite hero is Arnold Schwarzenegger,” she replied.

I tried my best to hide my surprise, and did succeed on that.

Vijaya’s husband Babu was on travel to Trichy. She has two sons—Udayakumar and Ashwin. Udayakumar has studied up to the 10th standard and is married, while Ashwin is studying in 8th standard at Evans matriculation school in Taramani.

“It is nice to know that you son is going to a matriculation school,” I appreciated.

“We have been through a lot of struggle. I don’t want my children to experience any difficulty. That is why we have educated them well,” she said. 

“You must have really put in a lot of effort to reach this position. Can you share with us your life journey,” I politely asked.

“My husband and I moved to Chennai after we got married in 1989. There has been days when we did not get even a single meal. We depended on the leftover food that was given away by the sailors when the ship landed at Chennai port,” she said holding back her tears.

“One of our friends suggested that we travel abroad to sell beads. We borrowed money from money lenders to apply for a passport, but got deceived many times by the agents. It was then I decided to start my own passport agency and help my community people to travel abroad and earn a better living,” she said. 

“Was it easy for you to get passports for your community members? Did they all have ration cards?” I questioned.

“Yes, all my community members have ration cards. Now, they have Election ID cards and PAN cards as well,” she instantly responded.

“My husband got his passport in the year 2000 and traveled to Singapore. He kept sending me money every month and on seeing how my life has changed, my community members requested me to send them abroad as well. I charged Rs. 1000 per application and also lent funds, about 3000 Malaysian dollars to each person traveling abroad as they will have to declare this as ‘sure money’ at the time of immigration,” she explained. 

V

ijaya has traveled to Singapore and Malaysia several times. “The moment my community members land in Malaysia, they start earning money by selling bead chains. One-third of the population in Malaysia being Tamilians, we have good business here. Most of my them travel on a three-month visa, while some are lucky and get a multiple entry visa for a period of one year,” she added. 

We paused for a moment as her younger son Ashwin arrived. He demanded our attention and asked me to click his picture. I asked Vijaya if I could take her picture as well. 

She hesitantly requested: “Can you please give me time to change into a saree?” 

I stepped out allowing her to get ready for the photo shoot, and chatted with the men who were seated at the verandah. In less than ten minutes, Vijaya appeared in a bright blue saree and I was awe-struck.

I took more than two dozen pictures of her alone, as I did not want to disappoint her. The men and children insisted that I click their pictures as well, and I readily obliged. 

“There are 200 Narikurava families living in this locality. I have ten houses in this lane which I have let out for rent. Now, I have enough money to meet my needs,” concluded Vijaya with contentment. 

Bidding adieu to the bead makers, I traced my path back home reminiscing each moment I spent with this colorful community.