Chennai woman popularises the tradition of doll making

Are you one of those who waited for Navaratri to make beautiful golu dolls with different types of materials? A customary tradition followed in Tamil households, the responsibility of creating and decking up dolls was, primarily, the duty of young girls and women in the family. Nisha Srikanth, too, made golu dolls when she was young. But after a point, she lost interest in doll making because of work, family and other responsibilities. Twenty years later, she decided to quit her high-profile job in IT and started a venture called Sri Kolhapuri Doll Factory to popularise doll making among youngsters.

“My aim is to bring back the age-old method of doll making with fabrics that are environment-friendly. For one of the weddings in the family, I made 80 dolls that conveyed the purpose behind each and every ritual followed in a Tamil wedding. Guests from the wedding started asking me to make similar sets for various functions,” she says.

But Nisha wasn’t comfortable to straddle between her job and passion. “Doll making is something I am passionate about. But when I decided to do it as a full-time profession, I didn’t receive the support from the family — they didn’t want me to quit a secure job and suggested to continue doll making as a passion. I had to convince the family and I gave myself a six months’ time to prove my talent. Even the company where I worked wasn’t ready to leave me — they even offered me work-from-home option which I had to reject politely,” says the entrepreneur.

Nisha says that taking up doll making as a full-time profession was the toughest decision she has ever made in life. “I travelled to Delhi, Kolkata, Mysuru and Gujarat exploring possibilities available for making dolls. I met many artisans and small-time doll makers and learned a lot about the method.” She focuses on four types of doll making — cloth dolls, wire dolls, vinyl dolls and marapaachi (wooden) dolls. “The age-old tradition of making dolls with clothes is becoming extinct now. During the old days, people used to make paper mache dolls, marapaachi dolls and dolls made from clothes at home. I hope through my workshops I could teach people the traditional art of doll making,” hopes Nisha.

Though we could see a lot of imported dolls, for weddings it is customary to keep traditional dolls. “In Hindu marriages, giving a pair of dolls to the bride and groom is common and an age-old tradition. If a person in the family can make dolls out of eco-friendly materials, we can reduce plastic usage also. Moreover, making a doll and decorating it is therapeutic,” she sums up.