80-year-old Poongani Thangapandi limps and walks with the support of a self-fashioned stick but once she sits on the foot stool in front of the villu , the age doesn’t show on her.
She is only the second woman exponent to master this art form and is known for her skill in twirling the kattai .
Poongani, according to her admirers, was a trend-setter and as a youngster had to be escorted for fear of being kidnapped.
Born in Saravanacheri, east of Agastheswaram in Kanniyakumari district as the last of five siblings, she says her parents sold a piece of their land every time they had to get a daughter married.
At the age of 11, she learnt villu pattu from Veda Manickam, a villu exponent who came home to teach her brother. She accompanied her brother who performed in village temple festivals.
By 14, she had married a co-performer and the couple travelled across the three districts of Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Kanniyakumari.
She was paid higher than men, she says. “I was paid Rs. 20 as my share as I could twirl the kattai while others got only Rs.10.”
She is known variously as Poomani in Thenkasi and as Rukmini in ‘Pandiya nadu’ (Madurai).
Despite having made a mark, she gave up the art when her husband died 30 years ago.
“I am an orphan now,” says Ms. Poongani, who subsists on the government’s old-age pension.
She will perform at University of Madras on Monday.
Poongani Thangapandi, 80,
is known for her
dexterity in twirling
the kattai
