They make their music with hammers, chisels, spanners and other tools. And this percussion band performs not during breaks from their toil, but as part of their work , melding their music with their labour. With 44 rivers, Kerala has long had a lot of boat traffic on its waterways. But due to the advent of extensive road networks and mostly machine-made, prefabricated vessels, the labour force in the boat-making industry has declined sharply. What remains is a fast-shrinking group of highly-skilled boat repairmen who still keep many ageing, almost antique craft afloat with their unrivalled expertise. In this film, they tell us their story.

V. Sasikumar

V. Sasikumar is a 2015 PARI Fellow, and a Thiruvananthapuram-based filmmaker who focuses on rural, social and cultural issues.

Other stories by V. Sasikumar
Text Editor : Sharmila Joshi

Sharmila Joshi is former Executive Editor, People's Archive of Rural India, and a writer and occasional teacher.

Other stories by Sharmila Joshi

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