For 50 years now, on the busy Kodambakkam High Road, the pavement has been adorned with every conceivable design possible in clay. From pots to terracotta figurines, from deepams (lamps) to Tandoor Ovens (Ovens for cooking smoked food), from 'muhurtham pots (colourfully painted pots used for marriages) to the pots used for the last rites.

S. Kaniappa Udayar has carried on the legacy his forefathers left him. He started this profession when he was just 10 years young. Today, his whole family, and his relatives too, are involved in the business.

His customers include Southern Railway offices, the Corporation of Chennai, Government Arts College, Queen Mary's college, Cosmopolitan Club and companies like Simpsons.

Some of the items like the Tandoor Ovens are of such high quality that they are exported. The sales are brisk throughout the year. Production of pottery on Kodambakkam High Road was stopped 10 years ago. Since then, the pottery has been made in places like Pondicherry, Arakkonam, Vellore and Chengleput and brought to the city in trucks. The business, which started out with just a few pots, today occupies a whole stretch of the pavement and is both a wholesale and retail business.