Making the most of life: 45-year-old cancer patient takes passion for making unique decor pieces into a profitable venture

HYDERABAD:  Forty-five-year-old Santosh Daga was diagnosed with cancer last year and started her chemotherapy in November. Instead of letting the pain of the treatment affect her, she chose to do a business that she always wanted to do for long.

Santosh, through her venture Dagas Crafts Valley, started to make customised art pieces for home interiors.  Today, she makes handcrafted pieces such as name plates, wall clocks and ‘money plants’ using both old and new coins, and wall pieces using crystals. Some wall clocks are also made using dosa pans. 

“Since I started my chemotherapy in November, my husband was worried because I couldn’t go out or do any physical work. I then started doing this work at home. I started my venture with money tree and wall clocks and kept on adding other products to the list.

With every passing day, I was able to perfect my work. My family, in-laws and my doctors were very supportive all this while which motivated me to do what I always liked,” she says. It takes four days for Santosh to create her masterpieces and you’ll never see a repetitive one. 

“I outsource out-of-circulation coins through antique dealers for my money tree,” says Santosh.  According to Santosh, it’s all about positivity that matters in the end. 

“There are a lot of sentiments attached to the money tree. When you have faith, when you have good feelings, we get good vibes, and automatically the negativity goes and we get positivity. The way we think is very important. The energy and good vibes we get after looking at a thing is important,” she says. 

Every piece that she makes has its own uniqueness and speciality. She believes that no handmade object can be made using similar pieces. “When someone says they want the exact replica of a particular item; it is very difficult to do so because the way the colour flows is not in my hand. Everything that I do is new and people have accepted and liked this.”

For her, her family’s support and an amazing team of doctors were not less than a blessing. “If you have a strong will power, you can fight anything. It can cure even the most of dreadful diseases,” she adds.

Realising that life is short, Santosh is taking her passion of making unique decor pieces into a profitable venture