From the distant boom to blooms
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Thambapillai Premendrarajah
Like the poppies of Flanders an entrepreneur in the north has turned a battle-scarred plot of land into a field of jasmines bringing beauty and business to the area
Text and pix by Amila Gamage
On a plot of land that was exposed to the worst of the war there now blooms a field of fragrant jasmine. The scars of the war are still visible on the trees and the surroundings. But the field is completely unrecognizable. You can only smell and see jasmine.
Visitors to Puliyankulam, 20km away from Vavuniya marvel at this fragrant acre of jasmine grown by Thambapillai Premendrarajah.
The 53-year-old entrepreneur who owns a hotel in Vavuniya said the idea of growing jasmine came from the Consul General of India in Jaffna A. Natarajan who came to his hotel to have lunch. Thambapillai brought down 30,000 plants from Ramevaram, Tamilnadu and has been growing jasmine for the past eight months.
Reminders of the past
“For now, I can pluck about 5 kg of buds a day. In about a year’s time I should be able to pluck about 50 kg of flowers. I sell one kg of flowers for Rs. 3000,” he says adding that he has now started a half acre plot of jasmine in Jaffna as well. “Initially, I used to sell a garland for about Rs. 200. Now I sell it for about Rs. 50. I reduced the price so that more people will be able to buy them. By doing so, it becomes good for my business as well,” he says.
And business is booming. “Sometimes there is a queue waiting to buy my garlands as long as a queue waiting to buy bread. I still find it hard to meet the demand for jasmine garlands. Some people even get angry when they are unable to buy flowers. If it’s for a wedding, people have to book the garlands at least ten days ahead. Those days, women in this area would buy plastic garlands to adorn their hair. It is my wife who takes care of the business side of our flower garland business.”
Thambapillai says he would like to build a nursery investing around Rs 2 lakhs. He has plans of distributing the plants to the villagers and later buying flowers from them. “Everybody- the big, the small, the powerful, the humble, love the smell of jasmine. From what I know of the country’s export business, this is its first commercial jasmine cultivation,” he says proudly.
Dileka: Happy to be working with flowers
Dileka Selvalingam, 22, is one of those working on the jasmine plantation. “I pluck jasmine flowers early in the morning. I love jasmine flowers. They hold much value to us in our lives. These flowers are used by devotees to take to the kovil and for weddings. They are also used by Tamil ladies to adorn their hair.”
Her deft fingers take just 15 minutes to weave a flower garland of about one and a half feet. “Weaving them gives me great joy. The jasmine flowers smell divine.” Dileka is from Puliyankulam and lives with her family – her parents and two brothers. “There aren’t many jobs for women in my village. The only jobs available are in farming and the garment factories. My job of weaving garlands earns me about Rs. 12,000 a month,” she says.
“When I think of how my flower garlands are given as offerings to the Gods or are used by others to make themselves attractive, it gives me great pleasure,” she adds with a shy smile.