The first time Godson Samuel laid his hands on a palm frond was when he was in class. "I was in need of an autograph book, but I didn't have the money to buy one," says the 42-year-old from Kanyakumari, who works as a pastor in Mumbai. When his attempt at making a home-made autograph ebook failed, he made up our minds to make an 'olai chuvadi' (a palm-leaf booklet) as an autograph.
Since then he has been obsessed with palm timber, he says. "Initially friends and relatives ridiculed me for being obsessed with the trees, but I stuck to my passion," he adds.
In 1999, when he joined the United Theological College, Bengaluru, folks there inspired his interest in palm timber. "It is where I took up my interest in making portraits using palm leaves," Samuel says. He cuts out photographs from palm leaf with a scalpel. "These portraits were made from pre-existing pictures," he says pointing to the portraits of Gandhi, Bruce lee and Dalai Lama, and adds it takes him anyplace from 45 minutes to 6 days to complete one portrait. "Using the same technique, I also do live portraits of people," he adds.
Samuel's hobby led him to do two theses on palm timber for his route. "I did a thesis on Economics of Palmyra for my bachelors course," he says. He used his love and interest of palm timber to understand spiritual concepts. "I also did a thesis on the religious and ritual significance of Palmyra in Tamil Nadu," he says. In his sermons, he additionally brings in concepts on how environmental issues are intently connected with palm timber, he says.
On May 16, 2015, he set out on an 18-day motorbike trip from Mumbai to Nagercoil to discover and document how Palmyra was connected with folks's lives. This experience has resulted in a ebook, 'Panaimara Saalai', which is within the making, he says.
He narrates how in Andhra Pradesh, he noticed sweepers cleansing streets. "The brushes they were using were made of palm fibre," he says.
For the previous 8 months, Samuel has been making a documentary on palm timber and its significance in Tamil lifestyles. "I interviewed people depending on palm trees for a living, writers, artists, craftsmen and government staff," he says. His film seeks to throw gentle on Palmyra, which he says is "the least understood tree."
Since then he has been obsessed with palm timber, he says. "Initially friends and relatives ridiculed me for being obsessed with the trees, but I stuck to my passion," he adds.
In 1999, when he joined the United Theological College, Bengaluru, folks there inspired his interest in palm timber. "It is where I took up my interest in making portraits using palm leaves," Samuel says. He cuts out photographs from palm leaf with a scalpel. "These portraits were made from pre-existing pictures," he says pointing to the portraits of Gandhi, Bruce lee and Dalai Lama, and adds it takes him anyplace from 45 minutes to 6 days to complete one portrait. "Using the same technique, I also do live portraits of people," he adds.
Samuel's hobby led him to do two theses on palm timber for his route. "I did a thesis on Economics of Palmyra for my bachelors course," he says. He used his love and interest of palm timber to understand spiritual concepts. "I also did a thesis on the religious and ritual significance of Palmyra in Tamil Nadu," he says. In his sermons, he additionally brings in concepts on how environmental issues are intently connected with palm timber, he says.
On May 16, 2015, he set out on an 18-day motorbike trip from Mumbai to Nagercoil to discover and document how Palmyra was connected with folks's lives. This experience has resulted in a ebook, 'Panaimara Saalai', which is within the making, he says.
He narrates how in Andhra Pradesh, he noticed sweepers cleansing streets. "The brushes they were using were made of palm fibre," he says.
For the previous 8 months, Samuel has been making a documentary on palm timber and its significance in Tamil lifestyles. "I interviewed people depending on palm trees for a living, writers, artists, craftsmen and government staff," he says. His film seeks to throw gentle on Palmyra, which he says is "the least understood tree."
Palm trees are this pastor’s unending love
![Palm trees are this pastor’s unending love]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
January 18, 2018
Rating:
