Business  is  booming  again as taxidermy companies

  Most  doll manufacturers have suspended regular operations  for two months  ahead of  Dasara to  make custom dolls.

• The city’s taxidermists say  they are finally doing good business ( taxidermy) after  having had little work for  the  past  three  years. Artists  said there has been a  sharp rise  in demand from Delhi and other  states,  and some  have  even received orders from other  countries, including the UK  and South Africa.

  “2020  and 2021  have been impacted  by the  COVID-19  pandemic and  last year  there was uncertainty  about outdoor events.  But  this year  I  got 100  orders. This is  more than  double  what  we received  in 2022,”  Shankar  told Ravanwala.  

 Like most other  taxidermy manufacturers  in Delhi, Mr. Shankar  set aside  his full-time job  as  a mechanic  for two months before Dasara  started creating custom taxidermy. He expects his total earnings this season  to  be  between  £40,000  and  £50,000.

individual animal figurines  

 “Sometimes  a customer wants a stuffed animal  with 10 heads,  and that’s  easy. This year, we were asked to dress  Ravana in  ghagra,” Mr. Shankar said. 

 The 50-year-old, who lives in Titarpur,  a  statue-making hub in  west  Delhi,  added that  a customer from  the UK had also  recently placed an order with him. 

  Monu  ‘Ravanwala’,  40, said he  was asked to make  a  doll  with two heads facing  forward  and  backward.  

 “Some customers want Ravana’s  mustache  to be twice the size of the  stuffed animal.  Others want  to  decorate  it  with  patchwork  fabric.  We  must accommodate  these requests,” Mr. Monu added.  

 Vinod Kumar, 42, was pleasantly surprised when someone  from  South Africa placed an order  for  him.  He laughed, “At first, I couldn’t  believe  that our  Laban was  popular  even overseas.”

Because the dolls  had to  be shipped by  ship, we used  the highest  quality glue,  bamboo  and  fabric. We sewed the fabric  twice  to prevent  it  from tearing  during  travel,”  added  Kumar,  who works as  a  waiter at  a catering company.

rising  costs 

  But Mr  Shankar  said: “Now labor costs have  become  unaffordable.  Daily wage  workers will be charged  ₹1,200  per day, up from  ₹500  paid  till last year. This is why  my  entire  family  works  with  me,  and  why my  children  miss  school so often.  But what can we do?  “We  have to make  a living.”  

 With the Delhi government  banning  the sale, storage,  production  and bursting of firecrackers to  curb  air pollution,  doll  makers said they are  receiving  orders for  smaller  Ravanas  and not crackers  this season. Dasara will be celebrated on October 24.

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Source: www.thehindu.com