For well over a century the people of Subidpur village in Pirojpur's Kawkhali upazila have been producing naturally cool shitalpati mats woven from the reed-like murta plant locally called paitara.

In the old days, every home in Tamil Nadu had one or two pais or mats made out of reeds. People slept on the mats, guests sat on them, and toddlers too used them to sit and play on. After their use, ...