Villupuram Artisan Empowers Community Through His Own Pottery Academy

Education often paves the way for success but experience is also considered a great teacher to many. One such is a pottery apprentice Sabrinathan from Thannamadevi village in Viluppuram district, Tamil Nadu. He teaches pottery, handicrafts and home decoration to people interested in this art in his village. His teaching academy is called SABARINA ART & POTTERIES. He has been running it successfully for 10 years. A total of 30 women and 10 men are currently working in this group. They manufacture and sell different types of handicrafts. The diverse menu of their products includes Tulsi Math, horse, elephant antique items and other decorative items for the home. From 50 paisa to Rs 50,000 worth of products are made at this academy. They make eye-catching and multi-coloured handicrafts.

While talking to Local18, Sabrinathan said that he has studied till Class 9th. He always had a keen interest in handicrafts since childhood. He learned about handicrafts from many people around the village. “ It was the Indian Rural Self-Employment Training Institute that gave me a hand when I was thinking about how to improve and beautify things. I got training from that company, received a grant and started a self-employed business,” said Sabrinathan. After this, he started selling handicrafts, home decoration items etc. He further came to know about a government scheme and started training as an instructor in it.

With the Rural Development Panchayat Raj Department Tamil Nadu, Women’s Development Institute Tamil Nadu and State Rural Livelihood Movement, the Kalaimamal clay sculpture group has been training hundreds of people in making and selling handicrafts. After gaining experience and education from this group, Sabrinathan started his own company called SABARINA ART & POTTERIES.

Apart from the Villupuram district, Sabrinathan’s decorative products are exported to many districts and states. “We do at least Rs 2 lakh worth of decorative items per month,” said Sabrinathan. Despite not having an educational background, Sabrinathan puts dedicated effort into his favourite work and aspires to become successful.