Q: How did you enter the area of manufacturing hammocks?
A: I was just a timber-merchant until 11th Novermber,1997. But on that day a dramatic change occurred in my career as I stepped into the prestigious ‘Hotel Taj Coromandal’ at Chennai. I was very much impressed to see cotton hammocks with rubber wood at the ends swinging in the gardens in the hotel compound. It was then that I thought of starting my own firm for manufacturing hammocks.

Q: What are your main products?
A: I produce Cotton Hammocks, Cotton Hand Woven Hammocks and Framed Hammock swings.

Q: When did you establish your firm at Ongallur and what is its present position?
A: My firm ‘Niyaz Hammocks’ started functioning at Ongallur in the early days of 1998. A team of eight skilled labourers under the leadership of Mr.Kutty, an eminent craftsman from Madurai, Tamil Nadu, are working here.

Q: Can you elaborate on the process of making hammocks with special emphasis on your strengths and weaknesses?
A: My work is nothing but common weaving work familiar to you. No more explanation is needed in this regard. I think the factors that make my product a standard item in the category it belongs to are the brilliance of Mr. Kutty and the dedicated attitude of his teammates towards their work. No doubt they are the centre of my strength.

I am very happy to respond to your question about my weakness in this field. Born and brought up in a poor joint family, I had to do all the jobs except 'begging’ to earn my livelihood. From such a miserable past I have grown up to the level of a successful businessman.

Q: Where do you collect the raw materials?
A: Unprocessed rubber is the main raw material required for the industry. My major source for this is ‘Nilambur’ in Malappuram District, the place famous for Rubber and Teak plantations. Every day one mini lorry comes here with unprocessed rubber from Nilambur. All other raw materials are available at my hometown ‘Pattambi’.

Q:What about the orders for your products and their exporting?
A: At present I am accepting only domestic orders since our machinery is not fully capable to meet the demands and standards of countries abroad. All South Indian States, especially Tamil Nadu are our leading costumers. Recently we came in contact with some of the wholesale merchants in other parts of the country also. I also hope to export my products to UK, Germany, America and Australia in the near future.

Q: What, according to you, are the advantages of Rubber-Wood Furniture and Rubber-Wood-Cotton-Hammocks?
A:You know deforestation is a burning issue here. Man is compelled to cut down many valuable trees such as Teak mainly for making necessary furniture. No doubt this system will have some negative effects on our environment. But here we can make the same furniture, windows and doors with rubber wood and boldly display them after polishing with liquid polishes available in all paint-shops. In the case of my Hammock, it is also encouraging the use of rubber wood. It is not harmful to children and the wax used in the rope-ends is completely non-toxic.