The Chandsi village located in a remote corner of Gournadi upazila under Barisal district, now known as ‘Pakha Palli’ or ‘Tal-Pakhar Graam’, has earned their names from their source of livelihood, where about fifty families are engaged in producing hand-fans made of ‘Tal(Palm)’ leaves for the whole year .
More than 150 years ago, women named Khodeza Begum coming from Faridpur settled in the village after married and trained the locals about making Tal-Pakha for financial self sufficiency.
Now four hundred people of fifty families at the village are now very busy in doing brisk business by making ‘Tal Pakha’ (hand-fans made of palm leaves), the most sought-after item during hot spells and load shedding in summer.
An adult villager produces 20-25 hand-fans everyday on average, depending on the type of hand-fans being made.
Leaves of palm (Tal) trees, bamboos, cotton, cloth, and colour were the ingredients of making Tal-pakha. Although produced with the same leaves, four different kinds of hand-fans can be made.
Hasem Khalifa, 57, one of them, said natural disasters and storms like Sidr and Aila, we facing acute shortage of plam-leaf and bamboo sticks as many palm trees and bamboo bushes destroyed by storm or lighting.
As can be expected, the demand for such fans is the highest during the summer season (April-July); we do this job nine months a year accept the three months of winter (November-January).
Single pieces of ‘Tal Pakha’ cost Tk. 4 to Tk 10 per piece and selling that in wholesale market at the rate of Tk.6 -15 per piece varied as per model, colour painting or decorations, producers added.
Producers of ‘Tal Pakha’ of the village said the purchasers from whole sale market visited the area once a week to collect the ‘Tal Pakha’ and supply and sold those to different areas, transport stations, fair grounds, markets, shops of the region and country at the rate of Tk.10 to Tk 25.
Due to the lack of credit or finance, many producers have to take loans from their wholesalers or NGO’s micro-credit projects prior to peak-production seasons, and, as a result, do not receive a decent price or cut profit to pay high interest against loan.
‘Tal Pakha’ is not only giving us relief from the soaring heats of summers and during power-cuts, but it also a heritage of our culture and tradition, so we have to preserve it from extinction by giving necessary supports, urged Gias Khalifa, local UP member and spokesman of the ‘Tal Pakha’ producers of “Pakha Palli’.
