Diagnosed with brittle bone disease at the age of six and forced to quit school, Radhika J A spent much of her childhood within the confines of her home or a hospital room in India. Frequent fractures, multiple surgeries and a threatening spondylitis led to a life of isolation. By the time she tuned 10, she was diagnosed with depression.
To help her cope, Radhika's doctor suggested she pursued a passion. So she began to draw. “I always liked craft and used to make greeting cards as a kid,” she tells The National.
In 2016, she chanced upon a DIY wall-hanging video that peaked her interest and she set out to buy her own materials to make her first wall-hanging. Encouraged after neighbours began enquiring about her creation, Radhika began selling them for 100 rupees a piece.
Two years later, in 2018, her brother's friend, Manikandan, showed her a video tutorial on dollmaking. Not enthusiastic at first, but motivated by her brother Rajmohan’s encouragement, Radhika made her first doll in two days. Rajmohan realised she had an innate gift and urged her to make more.
Radhika's breakthrough moment came when she displayed her dolls at an expo for recycled art. She sold nearly two dozen of them at a modest 100 rupees each.
“Those were simple models compared to the ones I do now,” recalls Radhika, now 24. “The materials used were also simpler. The sales boosted my confidence and I began experimenting with new patterns and materials.
“By the end of 2018, my brother and I decided to create social media accounts to promote and sell our dolls. We realised that keeping the dolls within the confines of our home wasn't attracting the attention we needed.”
QueenBee Dolls soon attracted quite the following on social media.
“The Covid-19 pandemic boosted my sales as people spent more time on their phone. The only issue was that it was difficult to source materials,” Radhika recalls.
Crafted from recycled newspapers and embellished with colourful accessories, the vibrant dolls stand out for their intricate details. Radhika uses a variety of materials in the process, including acrylic paint, adhesives, pages of glossy magazines for doll faces as well as bamboo sticks. Dolls are based, coated with adhesive, dried, then skeletonised before tissue paper is added. Painting concludes the process and it takes an additional three hours for drying.
Due to her health problems, Radhika can sit only for two hours at a stretch. But the painstaking creative process is paying off. Today, from her home in Coimbatore, the second largest city in Tamil Nadu, QueenBee Dolls are shipped across India and overseas. Dolls she once sold for 100 rupees each now earn Radhika between 5,000 and 25,000 rupees (up to Dh1,100) per month. Prices vary depending on the intricacy of the work required.
Paired dolls and wedding dolls are particularly in demand, and Radhika consistently expands her collection by experimenting with new designs.
For wedding couple dolls, she uses a bronze colour for the face and matches it to the skin tone. She is also not comfortable painting eyes and lips on a curvy face because it is not as easy as it is on canvas.
“In India, many people are reluctant to accept dolls with black faces because it's considered a bad omen,” says Radhika. “Customers have asked me to change the face colour, but I would not do it. Black faces and faceless dolls are what make my dolls unique.
This decision sometimes results in lost orders but she does not mind. Previously denied admission to school due to her ill health, Radhika is now invited to run workshops at various schools.
“I have experienced a life of lockdown for 18 years and completed my school education through homeschooling,” she says. “I hope to continue learning further, but dolls are both my part-time and full-time pursuits and they mean everything to me. I'm prepared to put everything else on the back seat as I continue to craft my dolls.”
When asked to choose her favourite doll, she replies: “All of them.”
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Profile of Hala Insurance
Date Started: September 2018
Founders: Walid and Karim Dib
Based: Abu Dhabi
Employees: Nine
Amount raised: $1.2 million
Funders: Oman Technology Fund, AB Accelerator, 500 Startups, private backers
MATCH INFO
Burnley 0
Man City 3
Raheem Sterling 35', 49'
Ferran Torres 65'
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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The biog
Name: Greg Heinricks
From: Alberta, western Canada
Record fish: 56kg sailfish
Member of: International Game Fish Association
Company: Arabian Divers and Sportfishing Charters
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Going grey? A stylist's advice
If you’re going to go grey, a great style, well-cared for hair (in a sleek, classy style, like a bob), and a young spirit and attitude go a long way, says Maria Dowling, founder of the Maria Dowling Salon in Dubai.
It’s easier to go grey from a lighter colour, so you may want to do that first. And this is the time to try a shorter style, she advises. Then a stylist can introduce highlights, start lightening up the roots, and let it fade out. Once it’s entirely grey, a purple shampoo will prevent yellowing.
“Get professional help – there’s no other way to go around it,” she says. “And don’t just let it grow out because that looks really bad. Put effort into it: properly condition, straighten, get regular trims, make sure it’s glossy.”
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
Ain Issa camp:
- Established in 2016
- Houses 13,309 people, 2,092 families, 62 per cent children
- Of the adult population, 49 per cent men, 51 per cent women (not including foreigners annexe)
- Most from Deir Ezzor and Raqqa
- 950 foreigners linked to ISIS and their families
- NGO Blumont runs camp management for the UN
- One of the nine official (UN recognised) camps in the region
Results:
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 2,200m | Winner: AF Al Montaqem, Bernardo Pinheiro (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,200m | Winner: Daber W’Rsan, Connor Beasley, Jaci Wickham
6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh85,000 1,600m | Winner: Bainoona, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m | Winner: AF Makerah, Antonio Fresu, Ernst Oertel
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 | Winner: AF Motaghatres, Antonio Fresu, Ernst Oertel
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh90,000 1,600m | Winner: Tafakhor, Ronan Whelan, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Europe's top EV producers
- Norway (63% of cars registered in 2021)
- Iceland (33%)
- Netherlands (20%)
- Sweden (19%)
- Austria (14%)
- Germany (14%)
- Denmark (13%)
- Switzerland (13%)
- United Kingdom (12%)
- Luxembourg (10%)
Source: VCOe
INDIA SQUADS
India squad for third Test against Sri Lanka
Virat Kohli (capt), Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Vijay Shankar
India squad for ODI series against Sri Lanka
Rohit Sharma (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul
Awar Qalb
Director: Jamal Salem
Starring: Abdulla Zaid, Joma Ali, Neven Madi and Khadija Sleiman
Two stars
