Socio-cultural Processes and Livelihood Patterns at Tirurangadi - CDS

accumulated profit in absolute terms, but the profit accrued has not been converted into
any other form of productive investment in the region.
The transformation of agriculture has had another effect. A number of craft groups had
subsisted on agricultural production, such as the blacksmith, carpenter, potter,
stonemason, basket making, mat making, muram making are some such professions. The
decline of traditional agriculture has rendered these communities jobless. Farmers do not
require their products any more, and the value of their products for household purposes
does not exist, as they are being replaced by cheaper products made in industrials. For
example, nails were made by blacksmiths from the iron becoming waste, and there is a
nail ‘factory’ where machine produces nails of any kind. Similarly industrials make
knives, and other iron implements which are available in the market at a cheaper rate than
what the blacksmith can produce. Quality and durability of a product is replaced by the
quickness at which the product is made available, and the cheap cost. Basket making is
on the way out, as it has been replaced plastic bags, and pottery has been replaced by
metal vessels. The role of the carpenter and stoneworker has become concentrated mainly
on construction work. The implications of construction work and household consumption
will be taken up later. As household consumption has become fully based on the market,
the role of the local producer has decreased, which means that former ancillary
occupations of an agrarian society have been rendered redundant. Professionals in such
occupations have been forced to make a living in curious ways. For example, swords
used in some of the communal clashes that took place recently were reportedly made in
this region. The only other agricultural ancillary occupation that has survived is animal
husbandry. Cows, she –buffaloes and goats are bought in many houses and are kept for
milk and meat. There are also five co-operative societies of milk producers. We should
note that dairy products were totally missing in Eranad in 1951.Poultry forms have also
developed, and numerous households have been maintaining poultry on a small scale, and