The round leather heads of the chenda (percussion instrument) twist and dry in the laundry-on-a-line in Vellarakaddu village near Thrissur, Kerala. Below the leather heads (vattoms), the fresh cow skins straight from the abattoir are stretched and nailed to the ground to dry in the morning sun. The smell of the drying skin rides the breeze and hovers over the workspace where the chenda and edakka are being crafted.