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SOCIETY
Traditional hookahs face threat of extinction in Kerala
Calicut
(Kerala): Due to high cost and fluctuation in
the rate of the dollar, the famous hookahs of Koyilandy,
a small town in the Kerala's Calicut District, is
facing the threat of being extinct. Popularly known
as 'Malabar' hookahs, they are mainly exported to
the gulf countries, mainly to Saudi Arabia. Moosari,
a special coppersmith community specialises in making
these Malabar hookahs. KP Nishad, a manufacturer and
exporter says that the export business has been hit
due to the fluctuation in the dollar rates. The cost
of raw materials has also increased. "We are running
the business just because it is our traditional work.
Otherwise, we would have stopped it," said Nishad.
The
Koyilandy hookahs are ornately designed with delicate
motifs, and have coconut shell as the water holder.
It takes one week to make a single piece of hookah.
The size can vary from 12 inches to 24 inches, which
costs between Rs. 500 and Rs 1500 and can go up to
Rs. 15,000 for specially designed pieces. It
requires 1.5 kilograms of copper, 1.5 kilograms of
zinc and half kilograms of silver is used to make
an average hookah. The original shape to a hookah
is given by preparing wax moulds to give it the actual
shape and then the liquid metal is poured in clay
containers in which the wax melts and the actual design
remains the same. Each part of the hookah is made
separately and then joined. The craftsmen and labour
are very worried considering the decline in the export
of hookahs. "In our unit, we have got little work
but in other units labourers are starving because
already manufactured stocks are lying at the warehouses.
If the situation remains like this, we definitely
have to stop working," said T Premnandan, a senior
craftsman. The craftsmen believe it is very difficult
for them to adopt other business as they are in this
trade since childhood and picked up the skills from
their forefathers. Only 16 families still remain in
the business in Kollam region of Koyilandy.
-June
12, 2007
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