"Sivakasi set for U-turn with revised outlook," says Ramu Ramanathan

Only 3,000 copies of the premium diary were produced which included features like cotton-laced paper and imported acrylic-coated cloth.

That's just one of the stories I heard about print in Mini Japan alias Sivakasi.

When I visited Sivakasi, ten years ago, I was given a crash-course. The town had a combination of dry weather and cheap labour. Groundwater was one-third the national average and the soil was not conducive to agriculture. This meant family (to be read as women and children) participation in industry labour. Therefore, it meant lower wages.

But there was one big reason for Sivakasi's unique business model: the enterprise of the Nadar community. They dominated the match and fireworks and print industry. Initially the printing press in Sivakasi produced labels and posters for the matches and fireworks.

In 1930, the father of printing in Sivakasi, Arunagiri Nadar imported a litho press from England and set up the National Litho Press. Print grew. Print firms mushroomed. In 1947, Kaliappa Nadar introduced offset printing to Sivakasi when he set up Sivakasi Industrial Printing Works.

These stalwarts have been commemorated at the Sivakasi print association office. This includes busts and portraits of visionaries like: K Gnanagiri of Coronation Litho Works and C Kadakarai of Lovely Offset Printers.

And rightfully so.

Thanks to their foresight, print in Sivakasi boomed. The Rs 1,500 crore print hub produced notebooks, calendars, diaries, cards, brochures, flight tickets and cheque books.

Some of that glory may have weaned off in the past decade. Things are changing.

A month ago, when I visited Sivakasi, I detected economic ascendancy. One of Sivakasi's biggest printers said to me: "Sivakasi will bounce back. The people in Sivakasi are renowned for their durability."

In the 16 July issue of PrintWeek India, we doff our hat to the legends of Sivakasi.

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Click on the link below to read an In Depth analysis of Sivakasi print sector by Ramu Ramanathan

Sivakasi: Teeming with a new print model