The toymaker

Toys, of the soft and furry kind, come alive in the nimble hands of Suguna Rangaswamy, 73, a resident of Chennai. Over a long afternoon chat, she tells Silvertalkies how her passion and vocation has kept her active and happy all these years.

“I was in Kolkata in 1980, when I lost my husband and decided to come back to Chennai. My kids were growing up then and I did not know what to do. My youngest was 14. It was my brother’s wife who suggested that I make toys for kids,” Mrs Rangaswamy says, recalling her foray into making soft toys and other goodies for kids. Her business got a kickstart when along with neighbour Sharda Natraj, she held an exhibition for soft toys in Chennai in 1981. “They were all washable and made of cotton,” she tells us proudly. The exhibition was a success.

Mrs Rangaswamy believes that it was she who first introduced handmade soft toys in Chennai way back then and says the sales were extremely good in the initial years.

Looking at her collection of owl and dog shaped cushions, finger puppets of every animal imaginable and sand filled animals like lizards, dinosaurs and frogs, we are not surprised. We come actoss her work in A Hundred Hands, a non profit trust of artists working with handmade products, where Mrs Rangaswamy regularly contributes. Her work shows imagination, a love for all things childlike and a completely clued in peek into the mind of children.

 The last is quite possible given the fact that Mrs Rangaswamy has nine grandchildren, all of whom have been the recipients of her handiwork. However, her expertise goes beyond just toys.

“I also make quilts,” she says, adding that it can range from Snakes and Ladders to Ludo and takes about a week to make. This grandma is also savvy enough to keep in mind the changing tastes of children (in fact she was pondering about toys on the Angry Birds theme recently) and adds that she can create designs based on what the child likes! Her finger puppets start from Rs 25, while cushions retail Rs 300 upwards. “Women’s Weekly was my trainer,” she adds with a laugh, when we ask whether she received formal training anywhere.

Until six years ago, Mrs Rangaswamy was actively into making soft toys and candidly admits that in the initial days, it was also for her survival. She has slowed down off late, due to poor health. “Nowadays I need some help. I like to sit down, spread everything and do the work but nowadays I am not allowed to sit down.”

But before you wonder whether she intends to keep her work going, she informs that she is very much into making soft toys still, if only at a slower pace than earlier. “I don’t like sitting idle thinking unnecessary thoughts,” she emphasises, adding that she has to do something and what could be better than this?

“I also play scrabble once a week with my sister in law who stays across the road. I have prayer meetings here at home. During Navratri, I started chanting Lalita Sahasranama classes at home. My sister in law is 76 and together we do crossword, scrabble and read a lot of books.”

Mrs Rangaswamy’s inspiration to stay alert and active was her mother in law, who passed away six years ago. “Despite undergoing internal dialysis and being 91 years of age, she was knitting till the last day of her life. She gave me all the confidence and I hope I can give that to others.”

Living alone for the past 15 years, this mother of five stresses that she “chooses to live alone,” visiting her children, spread across London, Singapore, Mumbai, Nungambakkam and USA, when she wants. She is also an inspiration to many elders around her, with her capacity to keep herself engaged. “Many old people tell me why do we have to live like this (with ailments). I tell them, we can’t help it. It is God’s doing. We have to accept and live for the moment.”

Beautiful and bright, Mrs Rangaswamy’s soft toys, rag dolls, animal cushions and other artifacts could add to the cheery decor in any kids rooms and make for wonderful gifts. In fact, she says those are the gifts her grandchildren have grown up on.

You can see and buy her products from A Hundred Hands, Bangalore or email her on suguna.rangasamy@gmail.com

— Reshmi Chakraborty

Photographs of toys: Silvertalkies