How women in Chennai’s Vyasarpadi power a self-reliant small industry

Women in Sathyamoorthy Nagar chop treenails for a living, showcasing resilience, determination, and independence in their work.

The synchronised ‘tick, tick, tick’ of a hammer hitting wood greets us the moment we enter Sathyamoorthy Nagar. Children who have just returned from school run about; a baby cries nearby; a scooter veers into the street: all to this consistent background score.

We follow the sound to trace its source. Through narrow lanes, we end up finding women seated in front of their houses, chopping treenails using a chisel and a block of wood. They add the slivers to a steadily-growing pile by their feet. This mountain of treenails will be supplied to hardware stores in the city, aiding carpenters, plumbers and those involved in electrical work. Every wooden wedge counts.

“My mother would chop kattai after sending us to school, once all her chores at home were done,” says M Manimegalai, head bent in concentration as she works. She looks up briefly, adding: “I learnt this from her, and have been chopping wood from the time I was 12.” The 33-year-old drags a sack of wooden blocks to her doorstep every morning at around 11am. She then arranges a pedestal fan opposite to her, and settles down, hammering away at the blocks.

“I see this as an office job,” she says. “I take short breaks in between; fix targets, and wrap up by 5pm to tend to my two children.” A kilogram of treenails fetches the women ₹50, and Manimegalai chops around eight kilograms a day. Of the ₹400 she makes, she will have to shell out ₹200 for the wood that she sources from timber dealers in the city.

There are over 50 women engaged in the task at Sathyamoorthy Nagar alone. Others from the nearby JJ Nagar also join them.

N Sakthivel from Vyasai Thozhargal, a movement that consists of youngsters striving for change, has been documenting the day-to-day of these women for over two years. “I grew up surrounded by women chopping kuchi,” says the 30-year-old documentary photographer, adding that his mother too was involved in this line of work when he was in school. “After children left for school and men went to work, the women would come to sit outside to chop,” he recalls.

He adds that the women source machine-cut wooden cubes from local dealers, and work based on order. “Many women from Vyasarpadi also work as house help in places such as Adyar, Nungambakkam, and MRC Nagar; as helpers at the Stanley hospital, and also sell flowers across the city,” he points out. But some of them prefer to work at home crafting treenails, owing to the freedom the job provides.