Being Vocal for Our local - Kondapally Toys

This year I have celebrated independence day in a wonderful way. I felt more patriotic and proud this year.  That is because this year I felt I have contributed to my country by being part of #VocalForLocal moment.  To give a back ground, Marketing Interest Group of NITIE has organised Mandi online with theme #VocalForLocal this year. As you might know about our primeminister's vision for India to play a bigger role in Supply chains of the world. We students from NITIE in an attempt to contribute our 2 cents for this moment, guided by our favourite #1/12 Mandi sir, have identified some of the best local talents and promoted them. The talent that our team has promoted is Kondapally toys of Andhra Pradesh. In this blog, I will explain about the uniqueness of this talent.

What are kondapally toys?

Kondapalli Toys are the toys made of wood in Kondapalli of Krishna district, a village nearby Vijayawada in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh

How are they made?

The  toys are made from soft wood known as Tella Poniki which are found in nearby Kondapalli Hills. 
Each part is carved out separately. Then makku- a paste of tamarind seed powder & sawdust is used to join pieces together, add details and finish the toys.
The later step involves coloring with either oil and water-colours or vegetable dyes and enamel paints are applied based on the type of the toys.
The artisans mainly work on producing figures of mythology, animals, birds, bullock carts, rural life etc., and the most notable one is Dasavataram, dancing dolls etc.


                                 

Where can you buy them?

Thanks to the advent of e-commerce, now Kondapally toys can be easily purchased through online.
All the major e-commerce websites are selling these toys at attractive prices. Below are links for some of them.

Buy From ArtsyTrbe 

Buy From Amazon

Why you should buy them?

Kondapally toys depicts our culture , values and traditions very well. The main themes of these toys revolve around village life of people at the time when we were children.
If you have these toys at home , they will definitely bring you back the sweet memories of your childhood which you can cherish.
Moreover, it would be an opportunity to teach the young generation today about the serene life people used to live before technology invaded us.
Also, on patriotic perspective, instead of buying cheap plastic toys from china , we all need to encourage our unique local talent and be part of India's vocal for local movement.Below is an excerpt of how Chinese goods are hurting these toys.

"Competition from Chinese machine made toys is our main obstacle. We spend 10-20 hours-a-day making a dozen miniature buffaloes that are sold for a mere ₹ 300. We toil our lives away making these toys but sustaining ourselves in this competing age is major challenge,” rues S. Nageswara Rao, a second generation Kondapalli toy maker.

 

                                           

I believe time has come for us to show our patriotism to our country and buy local goods to encourage our talents. Jai Hind!

Please let me know your thoughts in comments below.