A dream come true

Stopping at a village near the foothills of Kodaikanal one day, BOB GRANNER's attention was drawn to a young potter working with clay ... Would his grand idea work?

I HAD come to India in 1990 to teach English at the Kodaikanal International School. I was enjoying my work well enough. Still, it did not take me long to want to get out into the community to build something, to create something that would link me even more closely to the fascinating culture of India.

One day on a trip to the plains, close to the foot of the Kodai ghat, I stopped at the village of G. Kallupatti in Dindigul district where, I had heard, potters make smokeless chulas - small cooking stoves that help prevent lung cancer from smoke inhalation - invaluable for families who do their cooking inside huts. A young man working with clay caught my attention right away. Turning the wheel with ease and self-assurance, he appeared to me an image of harmony and grace, spiritual somehow, but touching the earth. Apparently in charge, he invited me to look around. All his family members were busy, either mixing clay, fashioning decorative terracotta animals and flowerpots, or making chulas. All the wheels were turning, including those in my mind.

The young man's name was Subramaniam. I asked because I had a wild idea. Could I possibly send him to Ray Meeker in Pondicherry? Ray was an American potter I had heard about. I only knew that he and his wife, Deborah Smith, had founded the Golden Bridge Pottery in Pondicherry in 1971. I did not know much about pottery. It flashed through my mind, naively, that Ray might take on this young fellow as an apprentice. Then once Subramaniam learned how to make fine glazed stoneware, I could bring him back to the Kodai community and start a pottery. We would generate funds for our home for disabled and disadvantaged children, another idea also churning around in my mind. Grand idea. Foolish perhaps, but grand ....

First, Subramaniam went alone to Pondicherry to check things out for himself. Ray and Deborah were intrigued by the village potter. On the other hand, they were, frankly, quite amused by the note from a fellow named Granner asking if they could teach "slip glazing" to this young man. It was clear to them that Granner did not have the foggiest idea what he was talking about. Still, they were curious enough to invite him to Pondicherry to discuss the matter.

Ray was wearing clay smudged shorts and tattered T-shirt, giving his full attention to a blazing fire that filled one of the "fired" houses he was building for a client in Auroville, when I walked in on him. Having been up all night he was himself a bit "glazed". Introducing myself, I explained my hare-brained scheme to him. All the while he looked at me suspiciously.

"What do you want to do this for?" he asked finally. Without thinking, I looked back at him and replied, "Mainly for fun, I suppose."

Ray stared at me for a moment and turned back to the fire. Maybe he thought it would be fun too, or maybe his intuition told him it might be possible to bring a more sophisticated level of artistry to a village craftsman. At least he knew this Granner guy was not going to interfere much in the creative process. Still stoking the fire and smiling, he said quietly, "Let us give it a try."

A few months later, after starting his English lessons and agreeing to commit himself to the wild idea that was beginning to materialise, Subramaniam travelled from G. Kallupatti to Pondicherry, first to work at the Golden Bridge Pottery, then as a student under Deborah's tutelage. He remained there for nearly three years. Besides improving his artistry at the wheel, he spent much of his time learning about glazing and firing. I have learned since that these are skills foreign to village potters in India.

Deborah recounts: "For the first few months, Subramani was employed by Ray to work with other potters throwing red clay products for the next fired-building project. Subramani was already a skilled thrower, and when he joined the Golden Bridge production team making tableware in stoneware clay, it was a training more in the seeing of forms than in the forming itself. A traditional village potter - though his clay-working skills be consummate - does not have the forms and functioning of glazed tableware in his cultural background. Subramani brought to the task an eagerness to learn and a quiet sense of personal worth. He worked through our whole product line and all production processes until he could carry out a small glaze firing entirely on his own. This was his graduation."

Meanwhile, in Kodaikanal, all the other elements seemed to converge. Friends worked together to form a trust, to acquire a small piece of land, to break ground and to start building a pottery. Funds were collected and a foundation gave us an initial grant. Architects, building experts, stone masons and construction engineers materialised, contributing freely of their time and talent. Even a water diviner appeared on the scene. Creative energy was falling from the sky and emerging from the earth. All we needed was fire.

The name, "The Potter's Shed", was chosen because it suggested humble origins. And the project was to be just that - a simple place in a pastoral setting where Subramaniam could work his magic with clay, glazing and firing fine pottery that our trustees, now "The Potter's Shed Trust", would arrange to sell, first in Kodaikanal and then throughout South India.

From the beginning, "The Potter's Shed" was to be a non government, not-for-profit service organisation committed to the concept of benevolence and giving support to disadvantaged children. While Subramaniam was in Pondicherry and "The Potter's Shed" was under construction, I was in Kodaikanal getting acquainted with a community leader and businessman, who, with help from benefactors, was in the process of creating a new and enlarged rehabilitation centre and diagnostic facility for children with polio and cerebral palsy. I was intrigued. What better way to bring my wild idea into reality, I thought, than to create beautiful and utilitarian works of art, make them available to the public both for use and enjoyment, and give the profit to support these beautiful children at the centre? Members of "The Potter's Shed Trust" concurred, stating in their trust agreement that "... all profits above the costs of production for this project will be given to support needy children in the Kodaikanal area".

In 1994, "The Potter's Shed" was officially inaugurated. Subramaniam returned to Kodaikanal from Pondicherry, now in charge of his own pottery, to begin developing his autonomy as a master potter. He also found time to marry Bharati who now helps him with glazing and to train an assistant Selvaraj, who has become second-in-command as a production potter in his own right. Subramaniam's position has continued to grow. He himself has matured considerably, not only as an artist and craftsman, but also as a manager and a teacher. To date, he has successfully completed his 89th firing.

Ray Meeker has continued, from behind the scenes, to guide and direct the project and Deborah, of course, maintains her role as guru to Subramaniam. Recently Ray praised Subramaniam for having mastered the delicate art of firing so well that he "... no longer needs to use cones or pyrometers to gauge the level of heat in the kiln." Deborah, too, sat with him at "The Potter's Shed" recently holding up one of Subramaniam's bowls, and exclaiming, "How did you get the sheen on this glaze? It is better than mine!" Now well known within the Kodaikanal community, this master potter from the village may be recognised more widely in future years as the project expands.

"The Potter's Shed" currently markets its fine stoneware from "The Pottery and Gift Shop" in Kodaikanal. Though tourists frequently drop in to make purchases, most profit is made through local sales. Now, we are planning a new and larger kiln to increase our production, to widen our market, and to give even more support to needy children.

Dreams do come true occasionally. And wild ideas sometimes become realities. "The Potter's Shed" in Kodaikanal thrives today. Visitors to Kodaikanal are always welcome at the shop in the centre of town. They may also want to stop for a chat with a staff member at the rehabilitation centre just next to the bus stand. There you can see for yourself the children who receive the primary benefit of this cottage industry. The shop also features a craft centre where some of the children from the centre may be seen at work fashioning beads, coils and tubes that may become lovely works of art in their own right. Rest assured, if you exchange a smile with one of the children, you will come away inspired.

For additional information about "The Potter's Shed" and its work, or guided tours contact The Manager, "Pottery and Gift Shop", Seven Roads, Kodaikanal - 624101, Tamil Nadu, or Mrs. Jayashree Kumar (Trustee), "The Beacon", Attuvampatti, Kodaikanal - 624101, Tamil Nadu.

The writer has now retired from teaching. He divides his time between Kodaikanal and Vermont, U.S.

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