Guwahati, Dec. 4: Handmade dolls being sold under the brand Nungshiba are a new attraction at this year's Hornbill Festival in Nagaland's Kisama village.
The dolls, manufactured by an all-women start-up called Precious Me Love (PML), depict the culture and lifestyle of various tribes of the Northeast.
"As many tourists from across the country and abroad visit the Hornbill festival, we decided to use the platform to let them take back something, which will remind them of our unique culture and lifestyle. Nungshiba means love in Manipuri. So we decided to call our dolls Nungshibas as a symbol of love to our first crafts designer Babita Meitei, a Manipuri. The dolls reflect the culture and lifestyle of various communities in Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. We have plans to create dolls of other communities in the future," PML proprietor Zuboni Humtsoe told The Telegraph today.
In a state that has just about no industry, the start-up showed the way in 2011 when Zuboni, a graduate in political science from Kalindi College under Delhi University, decided to do something of her own in her hometown Dimapur.
She and a group of women started producing textile items and selling them online, and PML was born. They started making the dolls last year.
"Japanese dolls, which I have loved since childhood, motivated me to create a brand of dolls that will portray the unique culture of various communities. The dolls are prepared from waste fabrics from our textile units and our designers add more value to make them attractive," Zuboni said. The start-up's core team comprises 10 women, five of whom are doll makers. "The waste fabrics are sorted and the clothes are designed and put into production. The dolls are carefully stuffed with local cotton sourced from local markets, flowers and different tribal patterns are sewn onto the dolls. Each of them is crafted with unique features and style," she said.
It also sells textile items of various ethnic communities through their portal, www. preciousmelove.com, apart from exhibitions, pop-ups and an outlet in Kohima.
Hundreds of tourists visit the festival at Kisama, about 15km from Kohima. The festival, that began on December 1, will continue till next Saturday.
