I live in Kansas. I am a housewife and have a one-year-old son named Anirudhah Narayanan. I completed my M. Sc. Mathematics from Meenakshi College. I used to do a lot of handwork in India and USA. I used to make Lord Vinayakar idols for Vinayaka Chathurthi in India. My brother and I then used to decorate the idols.

After I came to the US, I planned to make an idol for Vinayaka Chathurthi with clay that I got in an arts and craft store. It came out really well. Then my husband thought I could make other dolls for Kolu. He just asked if I could make Goddess Saraswathi with the remaining clay. That came out even better. Then began my real interest in making dolls.

My husband gave me full encouragement and now there are more than 20 dolls for our Kolu that I have made. We haven’t given a thought to selling them to others because the dolls are fragile and need a lot of care and maintenance. They are exactly like the ones we get in India.

The things I use for making the dolls are Laguna modelling clay, acrylic paint, glitters & other decorating items. I do not bake the dolls but just by air-drying they become firm.

I do not use any mould. All the dolls are hand-made.

I have been doing this for the past three years. The dolls that I have made so far are Lord Vinayakar, Saraswathi, Lakshmi, Venkatachalapathi, Alamelumangai Thayar, Lord Siva, Karumariamman, Crawling Krishnar, Ramar set (Ramar, Lakshmanar, Sita and Hanuman), Thiruvilayadal set (Sivan, Parvathi, Murugan, Vinayakar and Naradar), Geethaupadesam (Arjuna seeking upadesam from Lord Krishna who is the Sarathy riding the chariot with four horses and showing that He is Lord Vishnu), thamboolam set and kuthuvilakku.

This year, I have made Dasaavatharam.

I have to acknowledge that it was a really hidden talent that was discovered by my husband.

Soumya Narayanan