“My name is Ashok Kumar and we have been in the field of making mud dolls for the past 60 years. When it comes to Navratri, we are the first one to setup a stall in the Mylapore area. Mylapore is the hub for doll makers and doll sellers and during Navratri, we see people from different parts of India coming here to purchase good quality dolls for their golu. They also source the dolls to be shipped to other countries like America and Japan. Mylapore has become very popular for dolls because here is the place where you can find different varieties of dolls. Dolls from all over India are brought here to be sold to the customers so we have earned that unique trust with our diverse client base. Earlier, Navratri was celebrated by the members of the Brahmin community but it has slowly picked up with people of other communities as well. This has opened ample opportunities for us and it’s a festival we rejoice and enjoy as well. Add in the fact that this place is very close to the temple, people have some unique attachment to source dolls from us. Kapaleeshwarar temple is one of the biggest temples in the city so planning a trip to the temple, people plan their purchases along the way. In that manner, this place is unique and special. This entire family of doll makers here are trust worthy people so we don’t have to worry a lot about thefts. But we have been facing some objections with the government asking us to move our shop to a different place. Despite how they promise that they will set our shop, Mylapore has a unique charm of its own. Just like a fish market, this place has come to become the identity of doll makers. One can easily source the best quality dolls at a reasonable price compared to big stores. So, against the challenges we face, we wouldn’t want to move our shop because so many families and livelihoods are dependent on this. Most of the dolls we sell at this stall are made by us but we make sure to purchase few other varieties from other artisans in the city. Having said everything, I feel it would be greatly helpful if the government extended a good support to us to keep this family lineage running for the future generations.”

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