A step into his shoes

17.06.2017  K Jayapalan’s little handmade-shoe store creates personalised designs for customers

The gravelly path leading away from Mahabalipuram’s shores is lined with local traders, busy seafood restaurants and meticulously chiselled sculptures. There’s another familiar sight: the popular village shoe maker.

Shaded from the harsh afternoon sun inside a three-walled space, shoemaker K Jayapalan slaps leather together with practised ease.

Where a fourth wall would have been, is a tall panel lined with footwear ideal for the beach: chappals and flip-flops. Jayapalan has been at work moulding footwear for about 20 years now, under the name Ganesh Leather Works.“Handmade crafts and shoes are a lost art,” he says. “No one really makes them any more.” A team of four to five people usually helps Jayapalan with his shoes, but on the afternoon we visit, there’s just one worker. Sitting on the straw mat, the two work deftly.

“Foreigners really like handmade work, so we design a lot of shoes for tourists,” Jayapalan says. “Nowadays, more Indians are buying my work.”

Customers often just give him their size and design, after which he creates the shoes. The demands of a new design don’t deter him; Jayapalan says he is determined to give the customer’s vision his best shot. “With chain stores, whatever design they provide, you have to stick with it,” he says. “Over here, we will design a shoe to your liking.”

His dedication knows no bounds: once a customer’s order is received, Jayapalan says he goes all the way to Chennai to procure the colour and material needed, and voila, the handmade pair is ready within the week. Even if they don’t want a custom design, customers can still get their shoes adjusted, repaired and remodelled at the shop. It takes anything from the span of a few minutes to an hour.

As though hinting at Jayapalan’s inspirations, a tattered pair of Birkenstocks lying in the corner hints at something new to come out of its tired straps.

The shoe maker doesn’t limit his sales to the little street he operates from. He says Ganesh Leather Works exports all over India and even across the borders to Belgium, where Jayapalan’s son has a friend who helps the business.

Vacationers usually come during June and July, so he’s gearing up to receive them over the next few weeks. Otherwise, it’s quiet for most of the year.

“Nothing much has changed in the last 15 to 20 years,” he says about his business. “I put my sons through school and they help out here sometimes, so that’s the most I can hope for.”

Address: Ganesh Leather Works, 39, Othavadai Street, Mamallapuram