Colouring Madurai’s Margazhi mornings

MADURAI: Come Margazhi, the last month of the Tamil calendar, when the otherwise sleepy streets rouse before the dawn and many of the wet roads, lanes and by-lanes present a riot of colours. The skillfully laid kolams decorate the entrance of every household early in the morning. It has become a major attraction during this season and the colour powder used to make these beautiful designs has been made by a family for more than 70 years in the heart of Madurai city.Most of the street vendors have become kolam powder vendors in December and January since it has turned out to be a lucrative trade. Almost all the traders in Madurai source their kolam powder from the Hanumandarayar Padithurai on the banks of the Vaigai in the city.In an enclosure, under a metal sheet roof supported by poles, seated on a cow dung paved floor in different shops are 24 men and women mixing colours and packing them in small packets. Some of them who are experts in the trade earn as much as Rs 1,000 a day with their skill in mixing colours.The fine white stone powder - dust brought from quarries - is kept in large bags in a corner. All the workers are involved in mixing chemical colours. A handful of chemicals such as lead oxide for red, lead iodide for yellow, copper chloride for blue-green, nickel chloride for green and copper chloride for blue are enough to colour over ten kilograms of white powder. They source the colours from chemical shops, add water, and mix it well into the white kolam powder.P Kannan, says that all the workers in the ‘kolam mavu unit’ are relatives and it is a trade that has been in the family for more than 70 years. "Most of us are daily wagers or roadside vendors, but we look forward to this season, because we earn more money in the three months than we do for the entire year,’’ he said."We come here as early as 6am and start working when the Pongal festival approaches, and work till midnight, as most of the produce get sold,’’ said Uma Maheswari.Santha Devi, 75, is so involved in making her mixture of yellow colour that she does not look up while speaking. "I have been making it ever since I can remember and just love coming here this month," she said.Eswari and Elamathy, who are packing apple green and pink packets, say that working in this unit is like a meditation, and a stress buster. "We forget our troubles, when we are surrounded by so many colours and love this work and look forward to Margazhi every year," they said.All these workers have just one concern, if the plastic ban continues they will have to think of an alternative packing material to pack their kolam powder.