I hope that they were wrong. Tin looks a lot like lead. It's harder, but melts at a lower temperature. I doubt that one could coat cookware with pure lead, because it oxidizes too quickly, but alloys (e.g. solder) might be used.

It is indeed tin, despite the name you heard (eeya-chatti, or eeya-pathiram I'm sure) from your elders.

The Tamil word Eeyam has two overloaded meanings, one is tin/pewter, the other is lead.

Unfortunately, "Eeyam" is almost always translated into "Lead".

I think you're right, thanks.