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Only A Few Families Know The Secret To Making This Perfect Mirror | Still Standing - YouTube
Channel: Business Insider
[2]
the secret to making this sacred mirror
[4]
is known by just a handful of people
[8]
arawul kanari is made entirely from
[11]
metal and the formula for the special
[13]
reflective alloy has been passed down in
[15]
this community in india for around 500
[17]
years
[19]
the process is incredibly labor
[20]
intensive and done entirely by hand
[26]
it's all to get a reflection that gives
[28]
zero distortion
[29]
and the mirror is believed to bring good
[31]
luck
[32]
sudham lj learned the trade secrets from
[35]
her father when she was little so when
[37]
he died she chose to defy cultural
[39]
taboos and take on the business
[50]
she's carried the business through a
[52]
devastating flood and the pandemic
[55]
so what makes this mirror so unique
[57]
and how is this centuries old craft
[60]
still standing
[61]
[Music]
[63]
aranmula kanadi gets its name from its
[66]
birthplace a district in kerala known
[68]
for its rich culture
[70]
and for its temple where the mirror was
[72]
born
[75]
originally only royals and priests could
[77]
use the mirror for rituals
[80]
today it's more accessible
[82]
but the social and spiritual importance
[84]
still remains and so does the age-old
[87]
process
[105]
often into the night
[106]
they're melting down the raw metals that
[108]
they'll need for tomorrow's batch of
[110]
mirrors
[111]
an old roof tile makes the perfect mold
[114]
niranjan seals the end of it so that the
[116]
molten metal won't leak out
[118]
the mirror's alloy is made of tin and
[121]
copper
[122]
they're melted down separately and
[124]
poured into different molds
[127]
the next day the tin and copper rods
[129]
will be broken up and melted down
[131]
together in the perfect ratio to create
[133]
the mirror's reflective surface
[137]
sudhammal starts the day by making the
[139]
clay
[141]
it'll be used to build the mold for the
[142]
mirror
[144]
she crushes up leftover pottery into a
[146]
fine powder
[148]
[Music]
[152]
another ingredient is jute
[154]
a fiber they take from grocery bags
[158]
she mixes the jute and the pottery dust
[160]
with mud that she harvested from a
[161]
nearby paddy field
[163]
a little water loosens up the mixture so
[165]
she can knead it until it reaches the
[167]
right consistency
[170]
is doing the kind of physical work
[172]
that's typically done by men in this
[173]
industry
[182]
the father became sick in 2007
[185]
and his dying wish was for someone to
[186]
carry on his legacy
[189]
since he had no sons he left the secrets
[191]
with his wife and daughter
[193]
he thought
[202]
is in charge of packing the clay into
[204]
circular molds
[209]
the discs dry outside anywhere from one
[211]
to four days
[212]
depending on how sunny it is
[216]
once they're dried and smoothed out
[219]
sudama coats the discs with wet charcoal
[225]
the charcoal fills in the disk's tiny
[227]
pores
[227]
so that the mirror will come out
[229]
smoothed after it's sandwiched between
[230]
the two disks
[231]
[Music]
[233]
niranjan puts tiny pieces of metal on
[236]
one disc before placing the other one on
[238]
top
[240]
this creates a space that the molten
[242]
metal will later fill
[244]
he layers on more clay until the mold is
[246]
completely sealed
[249]
niranjan learned how to make mirrors
[251]
from his grandfather when he was a kid
[254]
he came back to the craft after getting
[255]
a business degree
[268]
kind of passion for this work is not
[270]
common for someone his age
[273]
is
[284]
while the crucible dries out niranjan
[286]
breaks up the tin and copper rods that
[288]
he cast the day before
[291]
only the people who have inherited this
[293]
craft know just how much of each metal
[308]
foreign
[314]
that at least 300 years ago the formula
[317]
for reflective metal came to a village
[319]
elder in a dream
[321]
another story says that metal workers
[322]
accidentally discovered the alloy while
[324]
making a crown for the king
[326]
the knowledge has been passed down in
[328]
mirror-making families ever since
[330]
but that legacy almost came to an end
[332]
for sotoma's family when floods wiped
[335]
out nearly their entire stock in 2018.
[338]
it was the worst flooding the state of
[340]
kerala had seen in a century
[342]
suit humble and her family were among a
[344]
million people who were forced to flee
[346]
after the floods they came home to
[348]
corroded tools and broken mirrors
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totaling up to seventeen thousand
[352]
dollars worth of damage
[354]
[Music]
[362]
not long after they got back to regular
[364]
business the pandemic hit
[367]
they didn't receive any orders for 8
[369]
months
[377]
can't afford to hire anyone right now so
[380]
they have to put in double the work
[383]
much of their 10 hour work day is spent
[385]
tending to the fire
[387]
netanjan feeds it with charcoal and
[389]
coconut husks
[392]
while sudhammal cranks the fan
[401]
the crucible sit in the 1200 degree fire
[403]
for about an hour with the metal pieces
[405]
at the bottom
[407]
then the ranjon checks to see if the
[409]
metal is melted by listening carefully
[411]
for a sound
[414]
he cools down the hot crucible with his
[416]
bare hands and a little bit of wet clay
[421]
then he slowly flips it
[424]
that makes the molten metal inside
[425]
trickle down and fill the space between
[427]
the disks
[440]
to double check that it worked he cracks
[442]
open the top of each one
[446]
if there's a little metal left over that
[448]
means the mirror was successfully forged
[451]
but things don't always go according to
[452]
plan
[453]
sometimes the metal leaks out and
[455]
doesn't form the mirror
[457]
but they always make sure to recycle
[458]
leftover pieces back into the process
[462]
the next day it's time for the reveal
[469]
the mirror isn't reflective just yet
[472]
it needs to go through several rounds of
[473]
polishing
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but first sadhama cuts it down
[477]
[Music]
[481]
the size will determine the price
[484]
these mirrors range anywhere from twenty
[485]
dollars to thirteen hundred dollars
[488]
their most popular kind is a handheld
[490]
mirror called valcanati
[492]
it's the same one that was used by
[493]
royals
[495]
and today it's often gifted for
[496]
housewarmings and weddings
[499]
the brass frame is made entirely by hand
[501]
too
[502]
using a sand casting process
[504]
they make big batches of these frames a
[506]
couple times a year
[508]
and the designs are all hand chiseled
[513]
95 percentage
[530]
foreign
[534]
uses wet sandpaper to smooth the
[535]
mirror's surface
[538]
she applies a few drops of coconut oil
[540]
to polish it
[543]
and then she finally places the mirror
[545]
inside the brass frame
[547]
using a homemade adhesive
[558]
or
[564]
sudhammal gives it a few more rounds of
[566]
polishing with more coconut oil and a
[568]
velvet cloth
[570]
they always put a sticker on the back of
[572]
the frame to mark its authenticity it's
[574]
a crucial step since counterfeit aramula
[576]
canadies take up a huge part of the
[578]
market
[580]
that's why the indian government gave
[581]
artisans exclusive rights to make these
[583]
only in aramula back in 2005.
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and with a good eye you can tell the
[588]
difference between a real and a fake
[591]
boy
[597]
typical glass mirrors reflect light
[599]
through the back of the mirror which can
[601]
create distortion
[604]
reflects light on the surface of the
[606]
metal so it's believed to show a more
[608]
accurate reflection
[616]
of
[621]
and even though the traditional process
[623]
is taxing
[625]
it's part of their ancestry
[627]
the machine uses
[628]
[Applause]
[652]
my
[653]
[Music]
[665]
you
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