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In the absence of any formal art training, Rekha Dey, a housewife from Kolkata, chose the internet as her teacher, making optimum utilization of it, thus opening herself to a new world of art and craft. The DIY videos on the internet inspired her during the lockdown. She used scraps to craft idols of Ma Durga along with idols of Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesh and Kartik to celebrate Durga Puja.
Ma Durga with her family
As a housewife and a doting mother, working on your favourite activity may not seem as important as taking care of your family. A little bit of art or craft can become vital for feeding your mind, creativity, and soul. Dabbling in creativity has multiple perks and, in this case, it ended up creating a stunning Durga idol using just scraps.
Today we’re sharing one such inspiring story of a housewife who began her creative journey at 50!
Rekha Dey
For Rekha Dey, life was no different than any other housewife of Kolkata. With the joy of completing every household responsibility, came baggage of unfulfilled personal aspirations. She never had a chance to recognize her creativity in the daily walk of life. She began channelizing her inner creativity in the Covid-19 lockdown. With an innate passion for art and craft and plenty of time on hand, the creative side of her has emerged in the form of DIY (do it yourself) arts and crafts activities.
Being an art enthusiast, Rekha, who never had formal art training, started to learn new forms of art and craft using various digital mediums. Though the learning process began slowly, she made it a habit to surf the internet extensively researching various art stuff.
In the last 5 months, she has created multiple objects one by one just using whatever scraps.
Determined to recycle every object of the household, she has successfully created the entire Maa Durga family without buying a single item.
Rekha started to look for scrap materials that her family members thought invaluable. She has always believed recycling is far better than tossing them out in the trash. Using all the old newspapers, magazines, kitchen trash, and even the empty bottles, she explored her creativity. During this lockdown, her love for recycling things got an edge!
Drawing inspiration from DIY videos on the internet she thought of creating an eco-friendly Durga idol in this Durga Puja with the firm belief that her little family can learn from her creativity to fight the concerns of landfills. After all, a mother is always teaching!
She created the Durga idol using paper, magazine cut-outs, using silver foil, and scrap materials that can be found in any home. Not only did she make an idol of Ma Durga, but she also sculpted the whole clan of the Mother Goddess. She handcrafted the vahan lion, Goddess Laxmi with her vahan the owl, Goddess Saraswati with her vahan the swan, Lord Ganesh with his vahan the mouse, Lord Kartik with his vahan the peacock. She even utilized whatever colors were left in the color boxes, thrown out by her children.
With art & craft, Rekha celebrates creativity, whatever the medium is. She believes there are many dreams and aspirations that are linked to art, you just need to acknowledge them. She feels this is just the beginning of her creative journey – there are many more milestones to achieve.
Ma Durga and her clan
Having a hobby is happiness beyond comparison; it gives us a sense of satisfaction and purpose when we get to share our creations with others. To all the women, especially housewives – “Don’t look at your age as a barrier. You are never too old to follow your dreams and passion.”
How to do so, you can ask? In this digital era, there are plenty of work-from-home opportunities. Opt for online courses – they will help you gain relevant experiences and inspirations for starting your own journey. Even if one person gets encouraged to start or follow her passion after reading this inspiring story, the purpose will be fulfilled.
The journey for Rekha Dey has just begun and we are looking forward to seeing more amazing things.
Subho Bijoya!
More to read
When Uma Meets Durga On An Ashwin Day
134-Year-Old Bonedi Barir Durga Puja: Dutta Bari@Balaram De Street
Aristocratic & Historic Kolkata “Bonedi Barir” Durga Puja 2013
I'm a passionate writer with an ongoing curiosity to learn new things. I'm a proud co-founder of DArtisians. DArtisians exist to Entertain, Inform, and Inspire Artists through the power of Creation, Reflecting the Uniqueness of Creative minds to drive a new era Of Development, Growth, and Individualism.
All Posts of Dishari Dey
All Posts of Dishari Dey
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2 thoughts on “Durga Idol Made of Scraps: Creativity of a Mother”
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Today’s Motivation
Hope is what keeps us going through difficult times. Have faith and you will survive.
Dear Dishari,
Wonderful…
Really motivating post as it is really encouraging & engaging!!!
Keep it up!
Thanks
Super would love to learn to make out of scrap….kindly mail…