Tsuktiben Jamir
A 23-year-old with a rare disease uses art as a form of expression and this has led her to cater to international customers as well. Radhika JA from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu was diagnosed at a very young age with brittle bone disease. It is a cruel disease that renders a person susceptible to bone fractures even when not exerting themselves. Radhika’s first fracture, which necessitated surgery, occurred when she was five years old. She was instructed to stay in bed for three months following surgery. She fractured the same leg again within nine months, then once again a year later. She had undergone a total of seven operations by the time she was 12 years old. Due to the delicacy of her physique, Radhika had to drop out of school.
“I started living in fear that even if I walk, I may break a bone. I stopped walking. I used to sit all day on my bed. Those were challenging times for me. I did not have friends to communicate with. From my window, I’d watch children playing on the streets, going to schools in the morning and to tuitions in the evening…For me, going to hospitals was the only outing,” Radhika told The Better India.
Courtesy: The Better India.
Since Radhika was not tied down by school routines like other kids her age, her daily life was usually mundane. She then shifted her attention to art, in order to pass the time and keep herself entertained. “At 14, I started drawing and painting. I’d watch MAD [a children’s TV programme] and feel inspired to replicate those crafts. This made my life a little intriguing,” she continued.
This propensity was ultimately what opened the door for her hobby to ease into entrepreneurship. Radhika now recycles old newspapers and brings them to life by creating detailed and unique dolls. Her dolls include caricatures of newlywed couples, musicians playing the sitar and trumpets, doctors wearing white jackets and stethoscopes, and black-colored idols of Krishna and Ganesha, among many other things.
However, life wasn’t always easy for Radhika; “During the [COVID] lockdown, people were getting anxious sitting at home. My entire childhood was a lockdown. I was unable to understand what was happening to me. Watching TV was my only source of entertainment. But because of prolonged sitting, I also developed a problem in my spinal cord. It became slightly bent,” she told The Better India.
Courtesy: Radhika JA.
Her brother Rajmohan even recalls, “While going to the operation theatre, she told our father to kill her. She asked him to give her a medicine that took her life at once, so she does not have to go through the pain again and again. It was a very difficult time for us.”
When Radhika discovered creative outlets to keep her occupied, Rajmohan saw her interest and showed her a YouTube video on how to create African dolls out of recycled newspapers. She began making the dolls as well, using her brother’s paints, metal wires, and outdated newspapers. One of her neighbours was her first customer. She started turning her pastime into a business by purchasing new colours with the Rs. 200 she received as pocket money. Later, a friend of her brother’s offered to display her dolls at his store.
So began her amazing journey. By 2018, she began selling her dolls on social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. “The more I sold the dolls, the more I started getting orders through references. I never invested in paid advertisements. I have established a social media presence by posting regularly. My brother and I dedicate all our Sundays to photoshoots of the dolls. We keep updating our regular customers with new products. My skills have evolved with customising new dolls as per customer requirements. From regular African dolls, my collection has expanded to family dolls, couple dolls, etc.” she added.
Today, Radhika receives between 30 and 50 orders every month and earns about Rs 15,000. Her customers are not just from India but also from the United States, Canada, Australia, Sri Lanka, and the United Arab Emirates.
