• Latest
A Walk Down Cobblers’ Street

A Walk Down Cobblers’ Street

March 3, 2023
Investec Cape Town Art Fair

Investec Cape Town Art Fair

March 3, 2023
Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development

Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development

March 3, 2023
DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

March 3, 2023
The Colombo Cultural Show: A Soiree into Sri Lanka’s Heart

The Colombo Cultural Show: A Soiree into Sri Lanka’s Heart

February 7, 2023
Kandy Central Market: The epitome of local ambiance

Kandy Central Market: The epitome of local ambiance

February 7, 2023
The Art of Local Writing

The Art of Local Writing

February 7, 2023
Carnival Magic

Carnival Magic

February 7, 2023
Ponniyin Selvan 1: Leveraging the Lure of History and the Power of Storytelling

Ponniyin Selvan 1: Leveraging the Lure of History and the Power of Storytelling

January 11, 2023
Rumination and Emotional Process

Rumination and Emotional Process

January 13, 2023
Segar Represents Sri Lanka in Asia Art Bienniale in Dhaka

Segar Represents Sri Lanka in Asia Art Bienniale in Dhaka

January 11, 2023
Good Conversations Start with Mlesna

Good Conversations Start with Mlesna

January 11, 2023
Exclusive Screening of ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ on its Global Premiere at KCC Multiplex

Exclusive Screening of ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ on its Global Premiere at KCC Multiplex

January 11, 2023
Retail
Friday, March 31, 2023
Subscription
Advertise
  • Home
  • Issues
    • 201_
      • 2010
        • January 2010
        • February 2010
        • March 2010
        • April 2010
        • May 2010
        • June 2010
        • July 2010
        • August 2010
        • September 2010
        • October 2010
        • November 2010
        • December 2010
      • 2011
        • January 2011
        • February 2011
        • March 2011
        • April 2011
        • May 2011
        • June 2011
        • July 2011
        • August 2011
        • September 2011
        • October 2011
        • November 2011
        • December 2011
      • 2012
        • January 2012
        • February 2012
        • March 2012
        • April 2012
        • May 2012
        • June 2012
        • July 2012
        • August 2012
        • September 2012
        • October 2012
        • November 2012
        • December 2012
      • 2013
        • January 2013
        • February 2013
        • March 2013
        • April 2013
        • May 2013
        • June 2013
        • July 2013
        • August 2013
        • September 2013
        • October 2013
        • November 2013
        • December 2013
      • 2014
        • January 2014
        • February 2014
        • March 2014
        • April 2014
        • May 2014
        • June 2014
        • July 2014
        • August 2014
        • September 2014
        • October 2014
        • November 2014
        • December 2014
      • 2015
        • January 2015
        • February 2015
        • March 2015
        • April 2015
        • May 2015
        • June 2015
        • July 2015
        • August 2015
        • September 2015
        • October 2015
        • November 2015
        • December 2015
      • 2016
        • January 2016
        • February 2016
        • March 2016
        • April 2016
        • May 2016
        • June 2016
        • July 2016
        • August 2016
        • September 2016
        • October 2016
        • November 2016
        • December 2016
      • 2017
        • January 2017
        • February 2017
        • March 2017
        • April 2017
        • May 2017
        • June 2017
        • July 2017
        • August 2017
        • September 2017
        • October 2017
        • November 2017
        • December 2017
      • 2018
        • January 2018
        • February 2018
        • March 2018
        • April 2018
        • May 2018
        • June 2018
        • July 2018
        • August 2018
        • November 2018
        • December 2018
      • 2019
        • January 2019
        • February 2019
        • March 2019
        • April 2019
        • May 2019
        • June 2019
        • July 2019
        • August 2019
        • September 2019
        • October 2019
        • November 2019
        • December 2019
    • 202_
      • 2020
        • January 2020
        • February 2020
        • March 2020
        • September 2020
        • October 2020
        • November 2020
        • December 2020
      • 2021
        • January 2021
        • February 2021
        • March 2021
        • April 2021
        • May 2021
        • June 2021
        • July 2021
        • August 2021
        • September 2021
        • October 2021
        • November 2021
        • December 2021
      • 2022
        • January 2022
        • February 2022
        • March 2022
        • April 2022
        • May 2022
        • June 2022
        • July 2022
        • August 2022
        • September 2022
        • October 2022
        • November 2022
        • December 2022
      • 2023
        • January 2023
        • February 2023
        • March 2023
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Archive
  • Find Us on Magzter
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result

A Walk Down Cobblers’ Street

in March 2023
0 0
0

Through rain and sunshine, the cobblers of Kandy have stitched their way into the denizens’ lives, helping them slip their shoes back on their feet.

 

Through seasons of change cobblers like Sundar stick to the job that they do best.

On a sidewalk in Kandy’s city center sits Sundar. He was a man glued to his job. Mending a sports shoe, he was oblivious to the incessant jamboree of traffic, impatient horn toots, and jam-packed parking slots with vehicles racing to get in. It’s a familiar spectacle in the heart of Kandy, a must-have background pep up for the cobblers running their trade on the pavements. Hardly encroaching on the daily caravan of people, the cobblers of Kandy aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. Cobbling is often dubbed a dying trade. In Kandy, they are permanent fixtures. Cobblers are in-demand service providers as people stop by or come in search of shoe fixers’ workstations whose gaze rests on their precious wares. They are their bosses cocooned in roadside workstations stripped of refined interiors. A rough counter for a workspace strewn with hammers, pliers, knives, cutters, shoe stands, awls, soles, nails, thread, and gum, and the ground for a seat, it’s a hard-knock life for these pavement cobblers.

These cobblers know the way to people’s hearts too. Live and let live best describes their relationship with the shops around them…

When everything and everyone around them is in high drama mode, the cobblers are cool and focused. Chewing betel for stamina as they deftly practice the art of cobbling, shoe repairing is a male-dominated trade. And stitch they did from shoes to slippers, umbrellas to bags, with hardly any rest as inquiries poured in from people trying to pick their restored soles and darned shoes. Roadside cobblers are easygoing but serious service providers, ready to negotiate prices without much argument. Interestingly, the Kandy town’s cobblers are connected by kinship or locality. Not necessarily the trade is passing from father to son. They’re all from the same hovel in Mahaiyawa in Kandy. There’s competition on the sidewalk, with several cobblers practicing their trade. They are placed in such a way that the people needing their services can procure them from wherever they enter the interconnected roads of Kandy city.

Now Sundar, Thangavelu, and Kumar are dirtying their hands daily to ensure that their home fires burn and their customers can save some money. They are among several cobblers sharing small roadside spaces for shoemaking. Having honed their skills under the mentorship of a seasoned cobbler, often a relative, before embark- ing on their own.

Now about the locality, Kotugodella Street’s miscellany of shops is dizzying, whose potpourri of sign boards belies the charm of several old buildings. Eateries, hotels, mini shopping centers, stationery, clothing, footwear, retail, electronic and mobile stores, and financial institutions rule the roost. Wedged between a tourist hotel and a handicrafts shop, Sundar is the new kid on the block. He ventured to his current location around half a year ago, a space occupied by another cobbler. Father of two, 49-year-old Sundar, who had been employed at a shoe factory, had his cobbler beginnings near the Kandy Police station under the training of a “shoe Guru”. He’s lucky to be recommended to the hotel’s guests and tourists by its security personnel. Sundar claims he doesn’t overcharge foreigners, but they would graciously leave more than he asks.

People want the cobblers to give their shoes a new lease on life rather than discard them. That’s a bonanza for the shoemakers.

These cobblers know the way to people’s hearts too. Live and let live best describes their relationship with the shops around them, their most important patrons. The sales assistant from the handicrafts shop stopped by to pick up a repaired umbrella from Sundar and had a kind word for him. He was one of the best cobblers in town. That flattery brought a twinkle to his eyes and a self-satisfied smirk. The familiarity these men have established begets a sense of trust, too, where kindness overrides money matters. So much so that to some customers, these men are “aiyya” or the big brother. Like the lady who asked him, “aiyya have you finished with the shoe I gave you at five o’clock yesterday.” A clever cobbler who knows his shoes, Sundar knew it was a court shoe. Sundar, who didn’t have change money for the lady’s big note, graciously offered to be paid later as it was almost near sundown, and she was hurrying to get the bus back home.

46-year-old Thangavelu’s two-decade run at an intersection is also quite a crowd-puller. There’s so much surrounding rumpus that he deserves a prize for putting up with the mayhem near his work. He loves his job, starting every day in the afternoon after working elsewhere in the morning. Living on shoes alone is not an option, says Thangavelu, who manages two jobs. His trade is also pitted against the economic woes of rising prices, a ball of thread that was 80 rupees now costs 120, and a small bottle of gum that was 80 rupees is now 180. Thangavelu is ready to negotiate with the person stopping by to give his shoes for repair. He says that 600 rupees for stitching is too much and asks for a reduction. Thangavelu justifies his price based on increased thread prices. He can only sew three pairs of shoes with one ball of thread. A few months ago, he could have done the same job for 350 rupees when prices were lower. Meanwhile, Sundar has brought down the price from 750 rupees per pair to 450 rupees to accommodate the trends of the times so that he could continue in business.

People aren’t willing to pay high prices anymore, claimed the cobblers. The minimum price to repair a pair of shoes costs 300 rupees. That will be to stitch them firmly to the soles. The price would vary according to the type of shoes, increasing to 600 rupees. The minimum cost of pasting shoes is 200 rupees, while a new umbrella cable would cost 150 rupees. The point is, said the men, the money they earn daily should be a fair wage for their labor. It should also be sufficient to feed their families and purchase inputs for their trade to continue and help them make a living.

Today, people are less inclined to declare their shoes redundant too quickly, explained the men. People want the cobblers to give their shoes a new lease on life rather than discard them. That’s a bonanza for the shoemakers. However, the father of three says that it’s not business as usual anymore, with people stopping to think twice and negotiating prices. Cobblers, too, are in a tight spot, with input material costs doubling lately. Their average daily income ranges between 1000 and 2000 rupees, so they can’t afford to turn back or displease anyone. After all, word-of-mouth matters in thriving by the road. No wonder these cobblers can confidently leave their wares to grab a snack and a cup of tea with their camaraderie with the shops.

Kumar also learned the trade from his uncle working near the Kandy bus stand at the age of 30. At 42, he has his own shoe-repairing business by the road, which he has occupied for the past three years. His income doesn’t suffice to care for a family of five children from ages 16 to one and a half and a wife who is a full-time homemaker. Hence, he has a morning job with the municipality and starts working at the cobbler station in the afternoon. His income is around 800 to 1000 rupees daily. Kumar says that some clients seek only him because he has a reputation for being reasonably priced. Looks like there are variations in prices, small they may be, which they don’t share with each other. Doing the same business in one locality is survivable only through competitiveness, and their competitive pricing is the unique selling point. Customers flock to where they’d get the best deals, said the cobblers, because they know they’re all excellent at their trade.

Their tools are like crown jewels, which they take with them daily, while the heavier stuff is kept in nearby shops, a relationship of mutual help and support. To stay rent-free in a magnificent commercial hub is a windfall. Hence there is a reciprocal partnership where their goal is to make a living decently. These men control cobbling in Kandy city. Despite transitioning to several tasks, shoe repairing is their trademark business. They enjoy their work, years of practice producing pleasure over discontent. They don’t grumble and don’t find working on the road among the furor even tiring. But they wouldn’t want their children to follow suit, doing all they can to educate them and get them into better jobs someday. Until then, they will continue in their cobbling, an occupation in an age of space travel and cyber navigation, yet to become expendable.

 

Always with a smile, Thangavelu has had a long run at this spot in Kandy.
Cleaning and cobbling – Kumar wears two hats in a day to keep home fires burning.
Tags: cobblersfeaturedgeneralKandy
TweetShareShare

Search

No Result
View All Result

Recent News

Investec Cape Town Art Fair

Investec Cape Town Art Fair

Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development

Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development

DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

Explore Sri Lanka

Explore Sri Lanka Online, the web edition of Sri Lanka’s leading monthly corporate publication. Founded in 1996, the magazine currently has a distribution of over 6,000 copies island-wide.

Recent News

  • Investec Cape Town Art Fair
  • Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development
  • DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

Find Us

Explore Sri Lanka
20-2/1 Lauries Place Facing
R. A. De Mel Mawatha
Colombo 04
Sri Lanka.
(+94 11) 259 7991
(+94) 715 134 134
info@btoptions.com
btoptions.com

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

© 2022 Explore Sri Lanka | Designed by Lithic Labs

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Issues
    • 201_
      • 2010
      • 2011
      • 2012
      • 2013
      • 2014
      • 2015
      • 2016
      • 2017
      • 2018
      • 2019
    • 202_
      • 2020
      • 2021
      • 2022
      • 2023
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Archive
  • Find Us on Magzter

© 2022 Explore Sri Lanka | Designed by Lithic Labs

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In