Much to the delight of tribal women of Kerala’s Attappadi, their Karthumbi, the colourful handmade umbrellas, are the toast of the country liked by fashion lovers and many others. An initiative launched in 2015 in Kerala’s Attappadi, an exclusive region for the tribals, Karthumbi umbrellas have now become a cynosure of all eyes.
Karthumbi was launched by Thampu, a non-governmental organization functioning in Attappadi to help the tribals get over the challenges of life.
In fact, Attappadi had reported more than 200 infant deaths during 2013, 2014 and 2015 as a fall out of malnutrition and hunger. Though the Kerala Government tried to cover up the issue, the tribals numbering 32,000 stand witness to these deaths. The area had no roads, hospitals or schools to speak about. Moreover the encroachers of forest land from other parts of the State painted the region red with their nocturnal “adventures”.
Rajendra Prasad, a tribal activist based in Kochi who is the founder of Thampu had an answer. Empower the tribal women by offering them an avenue with which they can supplement their income. That’s how they chose umbrella manufacturing as a source of income and that too by working from home. The Thampu initiative resulted in Karthumpi, handmade umbrellas which are without doubt a step ahead of umbrellas manufactured by major companies.
“More than 700 women from the tribal community were trained in umbrella making during 2014 to 2017. Right now around 60 women are in the job of umbrella manufacturing and all of them work from their home, convenor said K A Ramu. He said the response from the customers was overwhelming and the women make Rs 30 for every umbrella crafted by them.
The Karthumbi brand of umbrella has become a status symbol for the fashion conscious women of the State and many parts of the country. “I make 10 to 20 umbrellas per day and the work is done after completing my other works like the employment guarantee programe. It has helped me to buy a scooty too,” said Lakshmi Unnikrishnan, a homemaker belonging to Mudugar tribals.
Prasad said at the time of launching Karthumbi umbrellas, they used to pay each woman Rs 50 per umbrella. “The Covid 19 pandemic, and the deluge literally put an end to our business. But the determination of the women workers from the tribal communities helped us to sustain the venture.
Now we pay Rs 30 per umbrella and are hopeful to increase the pay packet if the Government junks the GST and other taxes. This should be seen as a life saving mission and not as a commercial venture,” said Prasad.
In his first Man Ki Baath programme after returning to power for the third successive term, Modi sprang a surprise by speaking about Karthumbi. The tribal settlement at Attappadi wore a festive look on Sunday as all of them sat in rapt attention to Modi’s speech extolling the tribal women.
Ramu and Lakshmi did not hide their glee on being mentioned by the country’s Prime Minister in his speech. “We can revive this collective which is troubled by the indifference of the State Government. If the tribals are given safe and secured houses it will be a major advantage for the community. Till 2015 we were troubled by absence of road connectivity. The Grameen Sadak Yojana has resolved this issue to a certain extent,” said Lakshmi.
Karthumpi is the name of a children’s collective functioning under Thampu.
