Bengaluru: Depicting evergreen film songs and their themes/scenes through
dolls may be challenging. But a software engineer from Bengaluru has managed to do so. She’s used her Dasara doll display to pay a rich tribute to her favourite singer, the late
SP Balasubrahmanyam.
Seethalakshmi Rao, a resident of Classic Orchards on Bannerghatta Road, is known for her theme-based doll displays. This year, she chose two unique concepts. She picked 22 famous Kannada songs of 1970s and 1980s sung by
SPB, who passed away recently, for the first theme, Tribute to SPB-Guess the songs. The other theme is based on the August 5 Ram Mandir bhoomi puja. She herself created most of the clay dolls, including that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The 22 songs include Kannada Honnudi Deviyanu, Nodamma Hudugi Kelamma Sariyagi, Banna Nanna Olavina Banna, Kelade Nimageega, Belliya Raja Baro, Havina Dwesha Hanneradu Varusha, Akashadinda Dharegilda Rambhe, Teraneri Ambaradage and Nammuru Mysuru Nimmuru Yavuru among others.
“It was difficult to depict romantic songs through clay dolls. In fact, I was not able to pick a couple of popular romantic songs sung by SPB,” she said, adding: “Another
gombe (doll) theme was the bhoomi puja at Ayodhya.”
“For 20 years, I have been putting together theme-based doll displays for Dasara. Last year, I chose Kannada proverbs. My mother Leelavati Gururaj encouraged me to take up
SPB songs as the theme this time,” said Seethalakshmi.
“The biggest challenge was choosing props and figurines. I didn’t have any dolls resembling any of the heroes or heroines to depict the scenes and make it easy to guess them. I made a few dolls using clay and bought only some online,” she said, adding that she’s continuing the tradition passed on from her parents and grandparents.
Seethalakshmi, who worked as a software engineer for over 15 years, is now working with Karnataka History Academy and Dream Path Foundation.
Box: 102-yr history of Bengaluru Dasara
According to historian Suresh Moona, Bengaluru Dasara is 102 years old. “Mysuru Dasara is famous everywhere. But Bengaluru Dasara also has an interesting history,” he said. “Bengaluru Dasara started in 1918 at Munireddy Palya in the Cantonment area after Mysore Lancers won the Battle of Haifa. The centenary of Bengaluru Dasara was celebrated two years ago,” he explained.