Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi   

Building structures in grass

Prathibha Parameswaran

"My ambition is to make models of famous buildings including the Parliament, the Red Fort and the Madras High Court."

TIRUCHI: The exhibition of self-help group products got up at the Rural Mart in the SGSY Complex in Tiruchi has a lot of impressive handicrafts lined up in the stalls. There was something or the other among the host of goodies that caught the eyes of every visitor.

A little away from the stalls in an almost deserted corner of the building, C. Pazhanivelu was working diligently on a handful of a wild variety of grass that grows in abundance in marshy areas.

Mr. Pazhanivelu, a native of Thanjavur and an Economics graduate from the Raja Serfoji Arts College of Thanjavur, did not inherit the talent, nor was it innate. He had noticed a bird cage made of fine wires hanging atop a hook at a shop and came up with the idea of using the smooth, thin texture of the wild grass to design something new.

Only a year before, he set to work with the grass to make his first house and since then, he has improvised in speed and ideas and has made a wide range of useful products such as pen stands, photo frames, models of buildings, letter racks and even cell phone holders.

Given a photograph or a recently good sketch of a building, Mr. Pazhanivelu claims that he could make the whole structure using the wild grass.

" I just noticed that this grass variety could be used to give shape to different things, sticking them together. I got someone to cut a bundle for me and started making the model of a house," Mr. Pazhanivelu says.

Born to parents, who are daily wage labourers, he suffered an attack of polio at the age of two that rendered him physically challenged.

However, he did not let his disability disrupt his ambitions. Instead he carved a niche for himself, even among foreigners with his talent and creativity. Though initially he was content with finding a market for his products in the vicinity of his village, Sivapuram, he was soon drawn out from the place as soon as a local newspaper carried a report on his achievements.

He was invited by the district administration to conduct a training programme on handicraft making for teachers of special schools. One of his most exquisite creations so far has been a model of Taj Mahal made of the wild grass.

"My ambition is to make models of famous buildings including the Parliament, the Red Fort and the Madras High Court. I'm just trying to get some pictures of these buildings," he said. He aims to do something extra-ordinary that would get his name in the Guinness Book of World Records sometime.

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