Rebuilding Doll House

Wooden dolls, rag-couples, toys made of cowrie are things of passé. Now is the age of Barbie, X-Box and other new-age electronic games. But despite such Western ‘game-changers’ in an Indian child’s doll house, a group of creative people is trying their best to tell the story of their land through age-old rag dolls or shell figures or simply by adorning plastic dolls with traditional dresses.
Zuboni Humtsoe, an entrepreneur from Nagaland, says the idea of making rag dolls came from her fashion factory. Humtsoe runs an online shopping portal where traditional Naga ornaments and western outfits are sold. “Whatever materials, be it cloth, beads or threads, are left, we use them in making rag dolls. In fact, we also sell these dolls on our portal,” says Humtsoe over phone.
The dolls sold by PreciousMeLove, the online shopping portal, are dressed in the traditional attires of different Naga tribes. Humtsoe says Meghalaya is one of her big business areas and besides accessories and dresses, the number of dolls sold in the state is also high.
Another enthusiast, Ikali Sukhalu, from Nagaland says she loves making cowrie dolls that tell the stories of her land. She also sells the dolls on special occasions as souvenirs.
“The idea of making the dolls came from the local tradition of presenting gifts to guests. I grew up outside Nagaland and came back to the state much later. I observed that people would gift stole or shawl to visitors. What is unique about it,” says Ikali.
During her visit to China, Ikali saw that people make small dolls dressed in traditional dresses and she too thought about doing something similar.
“As a souvenir, what is better than a pair of traditional dolls?”
Ikali uses conch shells for making dolls and wraps them in the tribe’s traditional shawl. “There are 14 tribes in Nagaland and each has a unique shawl. But these shawls are really expensive. So I am focusing on only four tribes,” says Ikali, who is a fashion designer based in Dimapur.
The young doll-maker says making the dolls is a strenuous job as it takes patience to put the things together in the miniature versions. “When I see a particular accessory associated with a particular tribe, I get them and try to copy them in the miniature version, which is really tough.”
There are women workers assigned to each tribe because “you cannot mix the ornament with the attire or the identity of the tribe will be lost”. The dolls come in pairs and “is a long process”.
Ikali says she never learnt making dolls and it was only her hobby and now a passion. Her dolls are very delicate and are meant to be souvenirs, she adds. She gets busy before festivals like the Hornbill when people from across the country and even outside flock to Nagaland.
In Shillong, cultural artist Silbi Passah too is engaged in beautifying dolls with traditional attire. However, Passah does not sell her dolls but does it for the love of it.
When asked about the traditional dresses adorning her dolls, Passah says each part of the attire and ornament has different names in Khasi. Pointing at a Khasi couple, Passah says the male attire has different parts like — Ka Jainphong shad, Jainboh, Theria, Jainteh Syngkai, Shanryndang and Kynjri Syngkai, among others.
For the female attire, the different parts are — Ka sopti mukmor, Ka Jainpien, Ka Sempoh, Ka Dhara, Ki Kpieng Ksiar, among others. “A silver crown adorns the head of a female. It rests on the knot of hair purposely fastened to the level head of the dancer for placing the crown. From the hair knot a projection of the female hair is also provided on the right side to accompany the lone silver chain,” says Passah.
When asked about how well-received the rag or cowrie dolls or dolls in traditional attire are among today’s children, Ikali says, “The obvious choice among children these days is Barbie but I make it just for the love of it. Some people do cherish these simple dolls.”

~ By Richa Kharshandi &
Nabamita Mitra