KOCHI: Chekutty dolls, made with handloom saris that were ruined in the floods after they are washed several times in hot and chlorinated water, find more takers While people in the state have been volunteering to help make the dolls, students studying in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi, have also pitched in their own way.Meenakshi Jayaram, a native of North Paravur and a first-year student at JNU, said that a friend of hers who would be travelling to Paravur would bring three saris to her in Delhi.Gopinath Parayil who along with Lakshmi Menon, mooted and initiated the idea of Chekutty dolls said that 300 dolls could be made from one sari, which is sold for nearly Rs 1,300. Each doll will be sold for a minimum of Rs 25. That means, one sari would fetch around Rs 9,000."We are depending on volunteers to help make the dolls because weavers have already lost a lot and are busy trying to get their looms running again," said Parayil, who added that all the proceeds from the sale of the dolls, available at chekutty.in, would go to the handloom society at Chendamangalam region.Meenakshi, who has been working with her collegemates to collect funds to do her bit in the relief efforts, recently found out Chekutty (short for Chendamangalam Kutty). She was surprised by the overwhelming support for the initiative at the college."Our plan is to get the sari here and start making dolls that could be sold in Delhi to raise funds for the initiative. I have been in touch with several groups who have agreed to help make the dolls. We plan to sell dolls on the campus as well and there is already a demand for them here. It is a great and innovative idea and we want to contribute in our way as well," she said.She said that the sale of the dolls would also go a long way in raising awareness as well."In the beginning, we went to Connaught Place to raise awareness and collect funds. Though there were a few people who were hostile and hurtful suggesting that the flood was the consequence of eating beef, most people were very supportive and wanted to help in some way," said Meenakshi.

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