C. Chellamma takes a big bundle wrapped in a sari from under her cot. She unwraps it. There are a dozen mats.
Taking the brightest of them, she strikes a pose for the photographer.
“This is my collection,” says the granny, her eyes brimming with joy.
“It is a long process,” she explains. Old saris with contrasting colours are torn and plaited to stitch doormats of various shapes.
“Linking is the toughest part. You have to ensure the joints are not visible,” she says, asking me if I can find the joint in a long plait.
Chellamma makes at least 26 mats a month.
This is one of the favourite pastimes for the inmates of Vishranthi Home for the Aged in Palavakkam.
A hobby they were taught by the founder of the home, Savithri Vaithi.
Some find company in designing crochet bags and pouches.
“I have stopped doing them as my hands ache,” says a granny.
Others like 80-year-old T. Venkatramani were inspired to take up this hobby, seeing women make trendy creations from old clothes.
“I was also part of making the 20-feet mat where a group of us were involved,” he says proudly.
Warden Ganapathy Ammal G. makes artistic decorations on plates to hang them as showpieces.
“We had many more inmates making such products. The numbers have now come down,” says Vidhya, a staff.
A majority of these products are sold at exhibitions. Nearly, 5,000 mats are sold in a year. Women Entrepreneurship Promotional
Association (WEPA) will be marketing the products in made from Vishranthi Home for the Aged an exhibition at Arulmigu Karpakambal Kapleeswar Thirumanakoodam, Mylapore from September 23 to October 2. WEPA can be reached at 9841871385, 9444044068.
