An engineer turned upcycling artist in Kerala is teaching India to rethink waste

Kollam native Amal S Pillai describes his entry into art and craft as accidental. At 31, he recalls being sidelined by a fracture to his left arm during engineering college — an interruption that led him to handicrafts. Short on money, he improvised, swapping satin ribbons for scrap cloth from tailors and using rolled newspapers as twine.

That resourcefulness laid the foundation for Amsham Handmade, founded in 2015, his sustainable creative initiative based in Kochi and Chennai. Over the past decade, it has grown into a practice centred on upcycling, restoring old fabrics, bottles and cable wires, while also hosting workshops and donation drives.