Harshini B

Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP)

Udupi, Nov 6: The enthusiasm with which this old woman works puts youngsters to shame. Satyamma (80), who has honed and perfected her skills at making sharp sickles in her furnace during the last 60 years she has been in the business, is highly respected in the area.

80-year-old Satyamma Acharti from Kota had married Shankar Acharya when she was 19. She joined her husband in his work as a blacksmith immediately after her marriage. She has six children, three sons and three daughters. She also has several grandchildren.

The sickles made by Satyamma which are perfect in cutting grass, are liked by everyone. Her sickles have high demand also because they last long. During paddy harvesting season, Satyamma is busy for a month every year during this period. She sets up her furnace inside a small hut behind her home and works from morning to evening to help her son to the extent possible.

Satyamma recalls that in the past, many people kept visiting her for sickles and sometimes, 150 sickles were also sold per day. But the money she got was less. So, to eke out a living, the family had raised cows and conducted marriages of children. With the increased use of machines for agricultural activities, demand for sickles has come down, she rues. Our next generation might identify sickle only through pictures, she fears.

In the past, because of poverty and responsibility of raising children, life was very hard. As Satyamma concentrates on work, she talks less but that has not deterred her from making many friends. During the recent expansion of national highway, her house and adjacent land belonging to her family was occupied by the government, and Satyamma now lives in a small hutment without any basic amenities. Although she has been working in her furnace making sickles since 60 years, none of the organizations have identified her. Recently the district administration chose her for the award on the occasion of Vishwakarma Jayanthi. Satyamma also dispenses some native medicines.

Her youngest son, Madhava Acharya, has been continuing with the family profession. He sharpens sickles, and makes pickaxes, hoes and other things made of iron. Madhava Acharya yearns to give a decent life to his mother. At present, Satyamma alias Satyavati is the only one to make sickles out of iron in Kota region.