“Every single mould we make out of bio-degradable wastes like sugarcane bagasse or paddy straw becomes a learning tool for children,” says city-based Suresh Kumar Vishwanathan, the founder of Kraftoons, a company that makes eco-friendly toys. His golu featuring handcrafted deities, peacocks, cows, parrots and elephants made from a combination of sugarcane bagasse moulds has been attracting a steady stream of visitors, especially school students from the city. “Our dolls are a mix of art and craft. While children handcraft the dolls, for example, a peacock using round moulds and heart-shaped ones (for feathers), they also learn to use colours for a neat finish. Two round moulds, when put together, make the head and body of a cow while a turtle mould forms the base of a Shivalinga. As they mould, they learn about free form shapes, and bio-miniatures, which are shapes adapted from Nature,” explains Suresh, who also makes moulding machines.
As a machine builder, one of Suresh’s first projects was replacing plastic egg trays with eco-friendly ones for the egg market at Namakkal , ranked the second largest egg production zone in Tamil Nadu. “I started making pulp moulding machines that basically converted paper pulp into trays, beer mugs, and cups. Later, I explored eco-friendly toys as plastic toys flooded the market. I started making toy moulds with sugarcane bagasse and started exporting to Japan, and also to the US, Malaysia and Singapore.”
The moulds come in as many as 14 shapes and sizes, and are used as an activity tool in Montessori schools in the city.
“They use the material for craft activity to make a sunflower, unicorn or a piggy face. They also use it to learn three-dimension designs where they mix the moulds with clay or with origami, all aimed at improving logical thinking and creativity. The idol making activity for the golu was a part of this exercise.”
The golu is open for public viewing at Kraftoons, SSS Towers (second floor), Mettupalayam Road till October 5 from 9am to 8pm.
