April 1, 2023
By Vijayan C.R., Community Resource Person in Sathyamangalam
In this series, Vijayan interviews local community members across Sathyamangalam, and pens stories of their everyday lives.
In Nagalur, Tamil Nadu, Velusamy earns a living by farming on his five acres of land and playing traditional music at local festivals and events. This year, he harvested 20 kuntalam or 2,000 kg. of maize, which he sold at INR 2,300 per kuntalam. In February, he harvested avarai or hyacinth beans, which his family uses to make kozhambu, a delicious curd-based lentil curry.
Bund, a traditional broom that is made of anchipullu, a Themeda grass species that is native to the region.
Thatta payiru or red cowpea is another crop harvested by him, and usually dried in the sun. These, along with ragi (finger millet) and kollu (horsegram) are not generally sold – they are either consumed by his family or used to save seeds for the next season. On the day we spoke to him, Velusamy was planning to harvest kollu and clean it. Velusamy is also skilled in weaving bund, a traditional broom that is made of anchipullu, a Themeda grass species that is native to the region. In Nagalur, tamarind is harvested every February, with at least 20 trees in every household hanging heavy with ripe fruit! Some villagers make use of a machine to help remove seeds and covers.
During weddings, funerals, coming-of-age celebrations, local functions called ‘seeru‘ and temple festivals in Nagalur and surrounding villages, Velusamy is often invited to play traditional music. He is one of four in a locally popular ‘band’, earning around INR 4,000 from each event!
