The hand that fixes the dolls

When DT Next visited him at his shop on Chitrakulam West Street in Mylapore, Paramasivan had already received orders for the ongoing Navarathri season. “It has been 10 years since I have been repairing kolu dolls, but so far I have not advertised even once. All my customers have come to me after hearing about my work,” says Paramasivan, while instructing his helper Maran to apply primer on one of the dolls ready to be repainted.

Paramsivan’s early exposure to arts in his village in Tenkasi brought him to Chennai more than five decades ago. After working as a signage and flex board artist, he found his calling serendipitously. “A person from Mylapore brought the doll of a Baby Krishna asking me if I can paint it. After I finished it, he brought more dolls to be repaired or painted. Since then, my customers have been increasing.”

From the paper mache dolls to the clay ones, Paramasivan believes fixing them is a bigger art than making the dolls themselves. “It takes a lot of time — almost a day to repair and repaint dolls. I pay a lot of attention to the details. I don’t return the dolls till I am satisfied,” he says, adding: “But my customers wait as they know that I won’t disappoint them.”

Customers bring in their dolls almost three months before the festival, with Paramasivan fixing a deadline 10 days ahead of the festival. After that, the focus is entirely on the ones that have to be completed. The repair could cost as much as a new doll, he adds, pointing out that half of it goes in the rent of the shop. “I have my daughter, grandson and son in law staying with me. While I focus on dolls, my son in-law manages the flex board and sign board business. He also trains youngsters.” 

Paramasivan believes that his strong base in arts, and training by stalwarts like Kovilpatti C Kondiah Raju has helped him establish. “I have built a whole enterprise around dolls. I get orders all through the year; my other clients bring the dolls that they don’t want to throw them away, even after they are badly damaged.”

But his first love is giving life to old dolls that symbolise memories of the first kolu kept in the house for his customers. “There is something about the artisanry and craftsmanship of those days. That is not seen or visible in today’s dolls. But one must understand, as with everything, art is also transient. We must adapt to it,” he says with a smile.