Sugandhi Dandapani - A visual artist by instinct

 The Senior citizen home where I am staying has many talented residents who excel in their favourite hobbies. Among them Suganthy Dandapani (64) stands out . She specialises in making handicrafts to suit special occasions and miniature replicas of popular temples.

Suganthi was born  in Tirukoilur in Tamil Nadu, but was brought up in Chennai, where her father Pandurangan , was working as an officer in the Railway Mail Service. She is the third among four sisters.  She did her schooling in Singaram Pillai Girls Secondary High School at Villivakkam.  Though she was a bright student, and received appreciation for many of her essays on various topics from her teachers, she did not continue her education beyond 11^th standard.  Her conservative parents did not allow her to study further citing the family tradition. When she was 26, she was married to Dandapani whose family was running a jewellery shop in Nagapattinam. Until her marriage, she utilised her time giving free tuitions to poor children in her neighbourhood and also learning tailoring, besides making wire baskets.

Suganthy says,” Most of the ladies in our  Vysya community, to which I  belong, learn to make wire baskets using the cross stitch method from a young age.  These baskets are used extensively in marriages”.

Suganthi`s creative mind made her think beyond wire baskets. For her elder sister`s son`s fourth birthday, she dressed him like a priest and fabricated a Sivalingam using cardboard and other materials. A special photo of the boy worshipping the Sivalaingam was taken, which was very much appreciated by everyone in the family. That was the beginning of Suganthy`s tryst with custom-made handicrafts and miniatures.

After marriage, she moved to Nagapattinam, where her husband`s family was settled. It was a joint family where again she had to live with a lot of restrictions.  However, she was allowed to display her talents at the nearby Kanniga Parameshwari temple. On special occasions she would fabricate different types of braids (Jadais). She  also used her imagination to try to adorn the deity with other types of make ups (Alanagaram) using different materials. It was around this time that she learnt to make ICE lingams. She and her husband have performed `Panchlinga Puja` using five Ice lingams she had made and Jothirlinga Puja using twelve Ice Lingams. At the Senior Citizen Home, she continues with this practice.

After  they celebrated their  30^th wedding anniversary, they moved to  Nana Nani, Phase 4 in Coimbatore, in 2017 to lead an independent life  without any responsibilities. Since they did not have any children they felt a well run senior citizen home would offer them better security and all the other facilities required by them at their age. Sugandhi could also  actively involve herself in her favorite hobby without any restrictions. It was a turning point  in their lives.

Phase 4 has a big Mahalaxmi Temple. In their very  first year, Suganthy fabricated several Jadais  (braids), which were used in adorning the head of the Processional deity ( Amman) in the temple. The Jadai , using several layers fabricated as a crown, adorns the deity even today. Any festival celebrated in the temple  witnesses some contribution from Suganthy in the form of a special decoration of the deity. Similarly, any programmes based on religious festivals will have on display an item specially fabricated by her. The Ramanavami festival last year had a miniature of the new Ayodhya temple, like the ones that architects make, made by her, displayed in a corner of the stage. Similarly, she had made a miniature of the Ayyappa temple featuring the hill, complete with the eighteen steps in the meditation hall of the community where a mega Puja for lord Ayyppa was performed,

Suganthy also celebrates every festival at home with appropriate decorations in the puja room to suit the festival. She had an exhibition depicting the story of Krishna Jayanthi at home .  She was thrilled when a popular singer visited her home on the occasion and sang a few songs on Krishna.

Suganthy recalls two memorable events  in her life. She says,” At the Neelayadakshi temple in Nagapattinam, during  Shivaratri  our  family contribution was the special Ice Lingam, which I would make and place it in an identified location in the temple. After puja in the main temple when our family returned to the area, we would be thrilled to find the Lingam surrounded by hundreds of lamps lit by devotees. 

 A couple of years ago, when a handicrafts exhibition was organized in the Meditation  Hall of the Senior Citizen Home,  my stall was highly appreciated by Mrs Uma Maheshwari, the JMD of the Ananya Homes, who was the chief guest on the occasion".

For all her talent, Suganthy had no formal training in the art. She is  a visual artist by instinct who is primarily guided by an innate, intuitive ability and gut feeling in making artistic decisions

She uses her imagination and some reference photos to fabricate items with cardboard, thermocole, fevicol and other relevant materials. Her husband Dandapani is of great help these days. He not only gives ideas, procures materials, but also actively helps in the fabrication of items. The couple is popular in the community for their active role in all the religious festivals held in the community.

Though her formal education had ended with the school, that did not stop her from learning Sanskrit and the Vedas after moving into the  Home. She studied Sanskrit at the Samskruthaa Bharathi in  Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. After passing the Kovidha exams, she started teaching Sanskrit online to interested residents in the community. She has also learnt the Vedas from the experts in the community and is now part of all Veda chanting groups active in the community.

Suganthi`s life is one more  example to prove that age is no barrier to pursue one`s passion for anything. And that well-run Senior Citizen Homes with a vibrant community offer plenty of opportunities for any creative pursuits.