Special Mom’s blog

What are you passionate about?

Passionate has many meanings. But I am going to go with the meaning of enthusiastic.

I would say my passion is collecting dolls (golu bommai, கொலு பொம்மை) for my Navaratri festival. Then display them. It is not a single-day or a few-day process for me. I think about it all year, and that is how I execute it. 

In the past few years, I have been making my special needs son also participate. When I started doing this festival, and my first was in 1998, I did not have anything other than my son’s toys. It has slowly but surely grown into a huge collection.

The festival happens in the months of September or October, but I would be looking out for dolls even in February. When I travel, I spend time in gift shops to see if I can add something to my collection.

I do not randomly purchase dolls. I have a theme in mind, and I go with it. I watch multiple YouTube videos and pictures on the internet. I see if I can incorporate my ideas into them.

My garage holds boxes of these dolls neatly packed, and last year I finally cataloged them. 

My son’s autism has never been an excuse for me not to celebrate this festival. When he was little, I used to lock the room so he would not touch those dolls. But we have come such a long way that he carries every single box from my garage to the display area. 

Thanks to a good friend this year, I was able to order dolls from India, and it did cost a fortune, but I would say our family as a whole did not feel the pinch. We enjoyed opening those boxes and checking out if the dolls came safe.

In the next two months, my boy will be working with me to add his craft work to the display, and I am really excited to show all our new creations.