When Chennai becomes the city of dolls

The usual haunts in Mylapore, Anna Salai and Kosapet draw vendors and customers

Mylapore’s North Mada Street houses vendors of dolls sourced from Krishnagiri, Delhi, Madurai and Panruti. Photo: M. Srinath

It’s that time of the year when even Facebook posts are all about preparations for Navarathri.

The city’s usual haunts, including North Mada Street in Mylapore, Khadi Kraft at Kuralagam, Khadi Gramodyog Bhavan, Poompuhar and Cauvery handicrafts on Anna Salai and Kosapet, are chock-a-block with people looking at the latest offerings in papier-mâché and clay art.

On Wednesday, Shanthi Swaminathan and her husband, residents of Kolathur, visited Khadi Kraft and Khadi Gramodyog to take a look at the dolls on sale.

“My daughters live in the U.S. and it is my granddaughters who decide the theme. We have so many dolls that we have an entire room for

kolu dolls, decorations and the padi (steps) in our house. I started keeping kolu 15 years ago, and every year I have tried to make it look different,” she said.

The Khadi Gramodyog showroom has 95 different sets of dolls on offer, of which 11 are new introductions this year.

From end to end, Mylapore’s North Mada Street houses vendors of dolls sourced from Krishnagiri, Delhi, Madurai and Panruti. Three members of a family, Jayalakshmi Devaraj, Sudha Santhakumar and Rajeshwari Chandrasekar, have been setting up shop here for three generations now.

“Several decades ago, our grandmother, Dhanabagyam, sold dolls here for Krishna Jayanthi. When people started asking for other dolls she started a small business that has been handed down to us now. For 40 days, we camp here and go home for sometime daily. We sleep on the pavement as we have to take care of the dolls,” said Rajeshwari.

Ramapuram resident Divya Bharath, whose first kolu this is after marriage, said she liked to shop at Mylapore as there was more variety and she could strike a good bargain.

The social networking site is also brimming with ideas for decorations, food items and gifts for visitors. Viji Ganesh, a cause ambassador for awareness and prevention of child sexual abuse and a personal safety trainer, for instance, has suggested an idea for a kolam . “Smear the plate with ghee and then, using a tea filter, sprinkle kumkum evenly over the ghee. Then, using a match stick, draw the kolam . You can have several of these around the kolu or use a different one each day,” she said.

A dire need for space

With doll vendors occupying the pavements of many streets in Mylapore, pedestrians are now forced to walk on the road, which results in inconvenience to motorists, too. There is no parking space, either.

The Chennai Corporation has plans to semi-pedestrianise the area. A. Kannan, an autorickshaw driver, said the Corporation should also ensure vendors do not take up road space. R. Mallikarjun, of Mangalore Modern Jewellery, said a separate haat -like structure, as in Delhi, would be an appropriate facility for such seasonal vendors.

Vendors said they had no other space to sell their wares. “If there was an open ground, it would be nice.”