More than just child's play

Unique Hobbies

For every little girl, dolls are a source of imagination and companionship. It was the same for Meerabhai Jadav but she never thought that one day, these dolls would end up bringing her peace and solace even in her old age. At the age of 88, Meerabhai is active and enthusiastic and can give any doll-maker a run for their money.  

For nearly 40 years, she has been making dolls of mythological characters as a hobby. This hobby has kept her on her toes and her family will tell you how, over the years, the dolls that she has made have become part of the family. She has lost count of the number of dolls she has made as she distributes them to her family and friends. But, she remembers each one of them vividly.

Her personal collection depicts the Ramayana, Dashavatara and Lord Krishna’s story. She has also made  Sai Baba, Ganesha and other mythological characters. While she does make other kinds of dolls, Meerabhai prefers the mythological ones. “Ever since I was a child, I was always enamoured by the mythological stories I used to hear from my elders. I would imagine the entire sequence in my mind. Now, I am only giving them shape. Making mythological characters really brings me peace and makes me one with god,” says Meerabhai.

Her journey of making dolls started when she was 40 years old. She was in Chennai and had attended a doll-making workshop, conducted by a group of artists from Japan. Though they taught her how to make Japanese dolls, Meerabhai adapted the method for Indian ones. The dolls are made out of cloth and wire. The only thing she has to get ready-made is the head. “I was always artistically inclined and my family supported me in this. Those days, one never found the material needed in Bangalore. So, I bought all of it from Chennai,” she adds.

Taking the head, she puts together the body parts that are made out of cloth and stuffs them with cotton or waste material. She then assembles the entire doll with the help of wire. Each one of the dolls has a unique tale to tell. And be it in the expressions, the hairstyles, the clothes or even the jewellery they have, Meerabhai takes extra care to ensure every minute detail is addressed. “I make all of these myself. It takes me close to three weeks to complete one doll,” she explains.

Her very first doll was that of a Ganesha followed by that of Shivaji and Sai Baba. Though she says that she has no favourite dolls and gives all of them equal attention, her family claims that she does have a soft corner for Krishna and often teases her about it. “All my dolls are equal and I am attached to each one of them. Sometimes, people ask me for a special doll like a Christian bride. I do make them — but it’s the mythological characters that I am most attached to,” she adds.

Maintaining the dolls is also very difficult. Meerabhai keeps them covered in a box, so as to protect them from gathering dust. And only on special occasions — like the gombe habba — does she take them out and arrange them for everyone to see. “They are very delicate dolls and need to be kept properly in a box. It takes me almost a week just to arrange them properly,” she explains. 

Considering she has been pursuing this hobby for 40 years, Meerabhai says that she has no character pending in her wishlist. “I believe I have made all the characters I have grown up listening about. But that doesn’t mean I will stop making them. My next step is to teach people. Unfortunately, nobody in my family has taken it up.

But I am willing to teach anyone who is interested. All these years, it is only passion and the will to keep this art form from dying that has kept me going. Yes, the markets are filled with plastic dolls — but the beauty of hand-made dolls is simply unmatchable,” she sums up.

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