https://csim.in/conversations/Conversations-July2012.pdf

Kattunayakan means ‘the king of the jungle’ in Tamil. They are one of the earliest known inhabitants of the Western Ghats engaged collection and gathering of forest produce, mainly wild honey and wax. 

The Kattunayakans believe in Hinduism and speak in a language which is a concoction of all Dravidian languages. The main deity of the tribe is Lord Shiva under the name of Bhairava. They also worship animals, birds, trees, rock hillocks, and snakes. 

Displaced from their natural habitat, many of them have taken to a different livelihood in cities, often living in urban squalor. The Conversations team spent an evening with 44 families of the Kattunayakan community live in Ennore, a suburb in Chennai. These families make wigs. 

As we wound our way through the narrow lanes, we saw a group of women approaching us. One of them, a middle-aged woman, urged us to walk towards the first lane to our left. My NGO contact Latha introduced her as Mariamma, a wig-maker. 

We followed Mariamma’s instructions and just before we took the bend to our left, we noticed men and women waiting in front of their homes and children seated on the compound walls. The lane, which seemed to be less than five meters in width, was lined with open drainage. They were all curious to know who we were, where we came from, and why we were visiting them. 

Latha introduced us to the community and explained the purpose of our visit. Mariamma instantly went inside her home and brought a plastic bag which had human hair and bamboo frames in it. 

While I looked for space to do my interview, I saw AK craning with his camera in whatever little space was available. 

The women cleared the path in front of Mariamma’s house and sat on the ground to demonstrate the making of wigs. They seemed to be least disturbed by the drainage stench and the dust on the road. They spread out the raw material on the bare road, picked up the hair in parts, and started working on the wigs. I noticed that the raw material had human hair of varied sizes and wondered how this could be made into a wig of at least 12 inches length.  

Just then, Masi, 58, the head of the Kattunayaka community at Ennore, emerged from the crowd and seated himself beside the women. He commanded authority and initiated the conversation.

“I am the guru for all these wig-makers here. I have been engaged in wig-making since I was 16-years’ old,” he said, holding out a bamboo frame.  

I was glad to have the guru of wig makers as my first interviewee and asked him about the wig making process. 

“We first weave the hair in this bamboo frame. We then attach small parts of hair to get the desired length. I can make a wig (hair extension) of about 12 inches length in about an hour’s time and in a day I can make up to 10 wigs. I sell each wig for between 30 and 150 rupees depending on the quality and size, “ Masi told me. “On an average I earn around Rs. 2,000 a month.”  

“For how long have you been living here?” I asked. 

“We are a nomadic community that settled in Ennore 40 years ago. We lived here in thatched huts for over eight years while this land was owned by Mr. Ramamurthy Iyer, a Village Municif (leader). It was then given to us free of cost by Mr. Ramamurthy Iyer. Each of the 44 families who lived here was offered one and a half cent of land to construct a house. Most of us stayed to live here, while a few sold their land to others,” he replied.  

Mariamma signaled me to come closer to her. I slowly slid away from Masi and asked Mariamma to tell us about her family and the income she earned from wig-making. 

“I am a widow with four children. My oldest daughter is married and one of my sons has completed his tenth standard. The other two sons are studying in the neighbouring government school. I can make up to 12 to 15 wigs a day and travel to Parrys corner and T Nagar to sell these wigs,” she said, heaving a sigh.

“We purchase human hair from the local barbers and beauty parlours in the city. We cannot afford to buy good quality human hair that is sold in Tirupati as these are meant for the export market and are sold in tonnes. We therefore buy nylon hair that is sold by a retailer near the temple at a much lower price. This costs Rs. 750 per kilogram, and we can make 15 wigs in this. Each wig is sold for Rs. 60, which means that we earn a profit of Rs. 10 per nylon wig,” she added. 

“Does your income suffice to meet your family needs?” I enquired. 

“No. I cannot afford to cook twice a day, therefore I cook only dinner. I save a portion of this meal to serve as lunch for us the next day. We eat all kinds of meat, except humans and dogs. We cannot afford to buy lamb or beef, hence hunt for cats, pigs, turtle, squirrel, myna, or sparrow. Cat meat is a delicacy,” she said with a smile adding, “I leave home around 9 am to sell the wigs to local customers in the city and return by 6 pm. There are days when I do not make even a single sale. My children and I also engage in rag-picking to earn some money, but that too does not suffice,” she said. 

The wig-makers who live in this colony were mostly poorly clad. The average family size was seven and there were around 200 children in this colony. All the families held ration cards and all the children studied in the neighbouring government schools.  

I asked if the government provided the community with any benefits. 

“The government has not bothered about us at all. We only have a ration card. That’s all!” Mariamma complained.

When I asked her if she was seeking support from the government or NGOs, her response was immediate: “An institute in Erukencherry is engaged in wig-making on a larger scale and has a good export market. They have specialized machines and offer training to women. If only they can train us, we can earn much more.”

Latha intervened and mentioned that she was working on this request already.

As the evening drew closer, we bid adieu to the community. We saw a huge crowd following us until we reached our car. The crowd that had first appeared curious now seemed hopeful of obtaining support .