Santhosh Kumar grew up in Nagercoil, a coastal town close to the Southern tip of Tamil Nadu, where his father learned the art of weaving cane and wire furniture. “Why don’t I learn the craft from my father,” he thought to himself when he reached the 12th grade, “I’ll not only be useful at home but I’ll also earn some pocket money.” After assisting his father with a few furniture pieces, he took up the job of rewiring an entire cot. “Completing the entire job on my own gave me the confidence to publicize my new skill,” he grins.
Santhosh’s weaving days were behind him before they even began. Like most others, he went to engineering college and moved to Chennai to pursue an IT job in 2015. “The job wasn’t as high paying back then so I put up a post on a blog about my weaving skills hoping to earn some money on the side.” Time went by and the post did not linger in Santhosh’s thoughts for very long as he began to pursue different mediums—looking to make some extra money. Within three years Santhosh and five of his friends from the company decided to sell sarees online. At the end of the year, Santhosh quit the IT job and moved…
