Move over Barbie, Kiyaa is the new playmate for little girls in India. Kiyaa, the Indian fashion doll to be launched next month is the brain child of Hima Sailaja, a design engineer-turned-fashion designer who dreamt of a scenario where an Indian doll is part of every girl’s childhood. “I would always see girls playing with Barbie and wondered why can’t our children play with someone who looks like them and someone they can identify with,” states Hima. With a wide experience of working in India and USA and UK, it was a chance participation which gave wings to her dreams. “Once I took part in a Barbie design contest at Dubai airport. When I was dressing up the plastic doll with flashy accessories, I wondered why we can’t we have our own doll that dresses like us and represents our Indian culture,” she recalls.
She quit her job, got into fashion designing and started a boutique. She also did a Goldman Sachs certificate programme at ISB. She has a 12-year-old son and pursued her idea of launching an Indian doll. In the process, she gave her ideas to artist Ridhima who created the sketch for her. “I was particular that the doll should have Indian features - big eyes and a sharp nose,” she says. True to her dreams, the doll had Indian features. Kiyaa, meaning cooing of the bird in Sanskrit, leaves her hair open with a parting in the middle, wears salwar kameez, anarkali, ghagra choli and a glittery sari. Soon, Kiyaa will be seen wearing a ghagra choli . “Kiyaa wears what a regular teenager wears at parties,” she says.
Hima plans to popularise the doll with storytelling sessions online. “Kids love to hear stories. We want to showcase Kiyaa as a girl next-door who stands up for truth. The ‘Power of truth’ story shows Kiyaa reprimanding her friends that they did wrong and that they should always tell truth,” she explains.
Finally, as a child did she play with any doll? “I asked for a Barbie when I was in Standard VIII but never got,” she says with a smile.
