People’s Products
Hand made products whether textiles, foot wear, accessories, utility or ornamental products have always fascinated me. Th ere is something eternal and timeless about them. Th ey have a distinct identity and singularity that is absent in machine made mass produced goods. Perhaps because hand made creations are people’s products. Behind every such product is a person who pursues such artisanal or traditional occupation often at great odds.
Our cover story this month is on the palmyrah products made by the Manapad Women Workers Palm Leaf Industrial Cooperative Society in Th oothukudi district in Tamil Nadu. Started in 1957, the society works towards economic empowerment of women through its range of hand crafted palm products such as palm leaf baskets, toys, hats, and palm candy.
Kana Ueki who did the cover story is from Japan, a country synonymous with technological excellence and innovative brilliance. Yet she found herself resonating with the ethos of hand made goods. According to her, being made from eco friendly materials, hand made products off er a sustainable solution to the environmental crisis we face today.
The cover story explores whether it is possible for people living in a technocratic twenty-fi rst century to balance their need for the comforts of technology with a desire to conserve the earth’s limited resources. Indeed Kana Ueki does not advocate a return to the Stone Age but only a more informed approach to mindless and rampant use of exploitative technology that threatens to shrink the earth’s natural resources. “ It’s time for each individual to put aside our selfi sh desire for convenience in our lives and take time to consider what we can all do, however small it may seem,” writes Kana Ueki. Is anyone listening?
