#165:From my unlocked diaries: Creativity is born out of their Disability

Can you take your eyes of these beautifully decorated, traditional dolls ??No, right ?? With intricate, colourful design work, with attention to every minute detail - this surely is a masterpiece !

Not just this one piece, the room indeed was a treasure-house of many such wonderful dolls & artifacts.?It instantly took me to a dream-land, a land that exists only in the reach of our imaginations ! I am sure you must be wondering where is this wonderland ?

No, it was not a shop; nor one of those gift shops dolling out ready-made, cheap, China-made plastic dolls.?It was the house of Saptapadi Creations, located in Hanumantha Nagar, Bengaluru South.?

With knowledge of various aspects involved in traditional South Indian weddings fast disappearing among the current generation, Saptapadi Creations helps fill this void. It is a wedding and ritual management organization that initiates complete Vedic rituals in weddings and programmes. It is formed by a group of passionate women who have the desire to spread Vedic rituals with their knowledge. With wide experience and skills, every ritual in the wedding will be conducted completely according to traditions.

They manage wedding rituals ‘end to end’, providing both ladies to assist (both bride & grooms sides) as well as provide such dolls & accessories, to make marriages not just traditional but also colourful and fun-filled !

I know … you must be wondering what I was doing at Saptapadi Creations ? Charu & myself were here last week for the upcoming wedding of our daughter – Nidhi !

After faithfully following the Google location by Ms. Rama (Rama), who owns Saptapadi Creations, we were soon at a simple looking home in Hanumantha Nagar.?Since Rama was busy on a client call, she asked us to wait in her office on the ground floor. ?As we entered the small living room, we were totally enthralled by what we saw …!

My immediate reaction was one of dis-belief by the variety of collections.? There was a doll or an artifact needed for every wedding ritual, for a baby shower or for a thread ceremony.?I soon started to soak in what was around me, letting myself fly into a world of dreams ...?

But my rational mind nudged me to do a reality check, and so I asked Charu – ‘Hey, I think they must be just buying all these dolls and artifacts ready-made from some shop?’. ?

Charu was too busy to reply to my question;?so I stayed in wonderment with that question still haunting me…?

Soon Rama was with us. ?

Immediately, Charu got busy with her, rehearsing the sequence of events for Nidhi’s wedding. ?After about 30 minutes, as the discussions was about to be wrapped up, I decided to finally ask the question that was bothering me;?I asked Rama – ‘Where do you get all these dolls and artifacts from?’

Rama just smiled and in a very soft voice replied back – ‘Sir, we don’t buy any of these 'ready-made'.?All the decorations and intricate works are made right here, in our workshop in the next room.?Most of these are ‘made-to-order’ for specific events’

What Rama mentioned next made me wonder in total disbelief ?- ‘Sir, in fact these dolls are made by a few hearing impaired girls that I employ.?I train them initially and later some designs they pick up on their own’.

My jaw dropped, as I wondered… ‘these are made by hearing impaired girls?...

Since I was curious, Rama offered to take both of us to the workshop next door.?

Soon, we were in the workshop in the nearby room.?Since it was a holiday, there was no one working that day. Standing there, Rama proudly went on to explain her journey.

Rama started Saptapadi Creations about 7 years ago, before which she taught at a nearby Deaf & Dumb School.??

Talented & well versed with South Indian wedding rituals, Rama saw an opportunity to run this as a business and at the same time make a difference to society.?

She trained some of these hearing impaired children, along with other normal girls and employed them to decorate dolls and make such artifacts. ?Over a period of time these girls have started to innovate and create new themes & dolls looking at various Pinterest designs.??

Not just that, Rama employs many other ladies / house-wives and puts them in teams that go out to help with conducting and helping with traditional weddings in various parts of Karnataka.?She makes it a point to employ only such ladies who are in financial need and at the same time well aware of traditional wedding rituals. ???

As I walked out of this ‘house of dreams’, I could not but help admire Rama - her entrepreneurial skills, and more importantly a larger purpose in helping the differently abled, and at the same time filling a big void in bringing back rituals to traditional South Indian weddings. ??

Rama’s words still echoes in my ears when she said – ‘Many parents of these deaf girls call me & say that earlier they were wasting their time on social media.?But now they seem so productive, positive and creative.?They pick up designs very fast and are very focused and concentrate on making these intricate patterns and designs so well – much better than normal & abled people’.

Rama has truly demonstrated that Creativity is born out of Disability.

In case you want to engage and support Saptapadi Creations, here’s a link to their website

https://saptapadicreations.com/wordpress/

Balu

May 10, 2023

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