I was in Chellanam , a village near Cochin last week talking to some locals who make vanji or the local country boats. I need to thank Gopinath from Blue Yonder who put me onto his colleague Prakash who told me about this place…I recorded about 5 mins of conversations, which are largely in Malayalam. Although I can follow a bit of the language, its very difficult to translate every word of the dialogue..I am writing my column on Chellanam and this small scale industry for The Metro Plus , The Hindu and will share the same with you once its published
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The boat looks very different from this angle. interest to know the conversion.
Nice to learn about this place. I shall be waiting for your next detailed post on Chellanam.
Oh, how fun! Especially to see these things continue amidst all the mechanisation…
I’d love to hear the story of the boatmakers. Looking forward to your story
I saw the workshop of houseboats too during my trip on alapuzha backwaters. They were busy doing the interior wood work which was so similar to the modular kitchen in most homes.
wow!! this looks really interesting! It would be fascinating to watch. Looking forward to your story,