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All smiles: Tulunevi K Sale inside his stall at the Traditional Evening Park, Kigwema in Kohima on Tuesday.[/caption]
Our Correspondent
Kohima, Dec. 4 (EMN): Down in the plains of Kigwema village in Kohima, lives a physically challenged blacksmith by the name of Tulunevi K Sale, who forges kitchen and gardening tools.
The 61-year-old man suffered an injury on his left foot, 25 years back in 1993, from a power-line that was on the ground in the village, leaving him unable to walk properly. Despite depression at “not being normal,” Sale refused to become a benchwarmer and decided to be a blacksmith—which, needless to say, was not an easy thing at all.
But today, he can boast of more than 20 years’ experience as a blacksmith. Sale is a father of five children: three daughters and two sons.
This Hornbill Festival, Sale is running a stall under the banner, “differently-abled (sic) stall,” at the Traditional Evening Park, Kigwema in Kohima. Some of his merchandise includes dao (Nagamese for ‘machete’), hoes, dust collector, knives, garden rake, and gardening forks, which were all made him.
He is selling the items at a very reasonable price between INR 60 to 800.
Sale told this reporter that the raw materials were sourced from ‘Tata steel in Dimapur.’ He uses varieties of wood—which he calls in his local Angami dilect ‘kase’, ‘lekeno’, and ‘anise’ wood.
Talking about being physically challenged, it takes three days for Sale to make ten to 12 units of tools; and said that he has earned over INR 16, 000 in the past four days. One can only expect, and hope for, more to happen in the remaining six days.
