Washerman and Potter
It is said that the village washerman has scarcely leisure to attend to his own domestic duties.
From: 1911 C.E. To: 1911 C.E.
Location: Kelambakkam, Chennai, India
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
From Life in an Indian Village by T. Ramakrishna, 1911.
It is said that the village washerman has scarcely leisure to attend to his own domestic duties. This is no doubt true, for Munian, the washerman of Kélambakam, is the most hard-working member of the village. He rises early every morning and, with an earthen vessel, goes to the village in one direction, while his wife goes in another, to collect dirty clothes.
On reaching the house of a villager, he informs the people of his arrival by making a noise which at once brings out a female, who hands over to him such clothes as require washing, with perhaps some special instructions in the case of particular clothes, and then supplies him with a handful of the Indian preparation called kulu—raggi flour cooked with broken rice:—which he deposits in the earthen vessel. He returns home at about nine or ten o’clock.
His wife returns at about the same time with a potful of kulu and a bundle of clothes. They then with their children partake of what they have collected from the villagers, and go to the river Palar with the dirty clothes to wash them.
There, with scarcely any intermission, they toil hard in the heat of the sun, and by dusk they have washed the clothes that were entrusted to them in the morning, They then return to the village and arrange the clothes of each household with a precision which is most astonishing, and which most probably gave rise to the saying that a washerman is more useful than an educated person. After this, they set out to the village to deliver the clothes. This time, instead of a pot, they carry each a basket in which to carry the cooked rice supplied to them by the villagers. They return home at about nine or ten, take their supper and go to sleep, which they have richly earned after a hard day’s toil.
Even this little rest is denied to the poor washerman whenever festivals are celebrated in the temple or when dramatic performances are given in the village, on those occasions he is expected to prepare torches with torn clothes collected by himself, and look after the lights.
Thus, Munian, the washerman of KéIambakam, with Lakshmi, his exemplary wife and useful assistant, willingly performs, without the least murmur, the arduous task allotted to him in his little village world.
Another member of the village, as useful and almost as hardworking as the washerman, is Kuppusami, the potter, who toils at his wheel day and night to supply the villagers with earthen vessels. He has to make earthen lamps, cooking vessels, huge jars for storing grain, bricks, tiles, &c., for building houses, drinking vessels and a hundred other things required for an Indian household.
He has also to make figures of human shape, and such like things for use in the temple of the village deity. Any stranger going into the house of a Hindu will at once be struck with the usefulness of the potter, when he finds whole rooms containing earthen vessels of different sizes and shapes arranged like conically shaped pillars, each containing some article of human consumption.
On important festival occasions, such as the Pongul, Kuppusami has to supply every house in Kélambakam with new vessels, and, on occasions of marriage, to prepare big pots ornamented with quaint figures.
His assistance is also sought after when bones are broken or fractured. I do not know how the potter has come to be regarded as the fittest person to treat such cases. Man, it is said, is made of clay by Brahma, who is often compared to a potter. And the potter, who makes figures of human form is expected to know the constitution of the human frame. Hence probably arose the idea that he is the fittest person to treat cases of fracture, &c. Kuppusami is skilful in the treatment of such cases, and his practice extends even to the neighbouring villages.
Ramakrishna, T. Life in an Indian Village. T. Fisher Unwin, 1911.
About TOTA
TOTA.world provides cultural information and sharing across the world to help you explore your Family’s Cultural History and create deep connections with the lives and cultures of your ancestors.
