This woman entrepreneur is hand-crafting dolls of women icons to inspire the younger generation
Former journalist and staunch feminist, Smriti Lamech is collaborating with Kodaikanal-based SHG Prowess to make dolls of feminist icons like Savitribai Phule, Frida Kahlo, Maya Angelou, and Kalpana Chawla.
In the misty hill station of Kodaikanal, former journalist Smriti Lamech, along with several seamstresses at the self-help group Prowess, has been sewing dolls of four feminist icons – social reformer and educationist Savitribai Phule, Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, American poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou, and astronaut Kalpana Chawla.
The rag dolls have gone on to become playmates to young boys and girls as well as becoming inspirations to women of all ages. Supreme court lawyer Karuna Nundy, who is known for relentlessly pursuing the Nirbhaya case and framing the anti-rape bill shared her collection of the Savitribai Phule doll on Women’s Education Day. A 40-year-old woman who is starting her bachelor’s degree in education also bought the doll to remind herself of all that Savitribai Phule stood for.
Launched commercially in September 2020, Smriti is surely charting a new way to celebrate trailblazing women every day.
The beginning
In 2019, Smriti decided her two children had enough of living in Delhi with most of their time spent stuck in traffic and sought a boarding school in Kodaikanal. Till the time her children got used to hostel life, Smriti decided to stay in a cottage nearby for a year and also volunteered to teach English at the school.
As lockdown eased in May, she saw that the Kodaikanal-based SHG Prowess’s business of stuffed toys and other handicrafts continued to dip as only essential services were allowed to operate. That is when Smrita thought of helping the group introducing handmade dolls feminist icons.
This involved sharing the story of these four women and why certain aspects like the NASA space suit of Kalpana Chawla cannot be any other colour than orange. The first three months were marred with challenges as lockdown was again announced in the hill station and irregular workers, which cost them additional time.
Smriti says the process involved “a lot of back to the drawing board moments” to make the dolls perfect till they were available for sale online on September 14. 2019. Branded as The Smritsonian, they are sold on its social media sites like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp (94870 53651).
"I have an entire list, there are many more personalities to come. I just picked the four because I knew for sure, I wanted to portray marginalised women because that makes them doubly strong...There will always be women who are pathbreaking but they are doubly so because of other challenges – being of a lower caste, black woman, or being disabled," Smriti says.
A feminist household
There is no doubt that Smriti is a staunch feminist. She started as a journalist two decades ago, and pursued a couple of ventures. Theirs is an equal-task household and there are no gender-specific tasks. “He does not only prepare meals but runs the kitchen the well,” Smriti says.
Both her mother and grandmother were working women. “My grandmother was an artist and a school principal which is surprising for her generation because most women her age just got married and learnt cooking. She couldn’t even make tea,” she shares.
At the same time, her mother was an enterprising woman “who followed her dream.” She started many successful businesses, would work on each for about five years, then get bored and be itching to start something new.
And while her father and grandfather had moved seamlessly into their wives' families, the beauty of it was that these weren't big, conscious calls.
For someone who was raised in an environment where men and women enjoyed equal partnerships, Smriti was aware that gender inequality was a cause for concern. Growing up in Allahabad, this was apparent in her own neighbourhood.
“It was easy to see that my family was different and other women did not enjoy such partnership of equals in their home. While I am outraged by the bias around me, I am not surprised,” she says.
Her current work in Kodaikanal is one after her own heart. “There are people who suggest I make dolls of certain personalities but I create and work only on things and the feminists that I believe in.”
Edited by Rekha Balakrishnan