Larger Than Life

In our quest to rediscover India, our final stop is to uncover the secret behind what is arguably, the world’s biggest handicraft

Our country’s diversity is the subject of many stories. From languages to culture to different races, India has always been an enchanting destination for those who had heard about it. The general warmth of people everywhere, from cities, towns to its farreaching villages have welcomed many a traveller. Arabs being one of them.

Interesting that a sizeable portion of Arabs came here not as warriors but traders. And this has also paved the way for a handicraft that survives today, even after centuries. Well, not the Arabs, but it is the locals who have kept this particular art form alive in Beypore, a coastal town in the South Indian state of Kerala. The art is of building hand-made wooden dhows or boats – better known by the locals as ‘Uru’.

Joining us on the trip this time was Parvathy Nayar, the Chennai-based artist extraordinaire who is known for, among other things, her ability to create art from pieces of wood. “The excitement of being a contemporary visual artist today is that you can draw from your history, from your roots, from your culture, from science and art and bring these things together,” she says about her work, one of her installations being currently on display at the international terminal of the Mumbai airport. “I have always been fascinated by the idea of maritime travel, especially to Kerala where I come from. Different ideas came to our shores and we adopted them. Uru boat-making was another thing that was brought here, which we have taken as our own.”

This being the final leg for our first of many journeys, in association with Michelin, we were also accompanied by some other fellow travellers, namely Harleen Singh, Priyank Shah, Auditya Venkatesh and Bishnu NS who were equally curious to know about the secret behind an Uru.