Wayanad: Abdu, who is fondly called Abdukka, is reliving his childhood days by making wooden toys even at the age of 80. For more than 40 years, he has been making wooden toys for children.
Abdu, a native of Varadoor, creates toys like lorry and aeroplane on wood at his small house here. He just wants to see the smiling faces of kids in his life. Because of this, he dedicated his life to make toys for kids. Whenever he makes toys, he feels the enthusiasm of an 8-year-old boy who likes to play with toys.
He made his first wooden toy vehicle when he was struggling with miseries in life. However, he was delighted to see that the toy calmed a two-year-old boy who was crying continuously.
“During my childhood, I used to make hand cart using banana stem brought by my mother. When the two-year-old boy at my home was crying, I took some scraps and firewood for making the toy. Once it got ready and was handed over to him, the child automatically stopped crying,” Abdukka narrated the his first experiment.
As it turned successful, he started toy-making as a serious job. Later, he collected wood and plastic bottles as material for toys.
He made beautiful flowers out of the plastic bottles. These flowers were fixed upon a vehicle made of ice-cream balls and wood. While moving the vehicle, the flowers rotated like a fan.
Abdukka also made many vehicles including tipper, tractor, aeroplane, autorickshaw, lorry and bus at his small workshop set up at home.
Now, the small house of Abdukka and wife Nabeesa has turned a hub of toys. Children have been visiting this house to purchase eco-friendly toys.
Abdukka has found his livelihood with these toys. He has been selling his exclusive toys and enjoying his time spent with children.
Interestingly, he is giving a tough competition to the toys industry by experimenting with fresh ideas.
“I took almost a week to make a tipper lorry which can lift the back portion for unloading. A rod of the umbrella was used to make this tipper. After every experiment, I realized the fact that everything is possible if we are ready to work hard,” said Abdukka.
Even Chinese toy companies don't manufacture the toys developed by Abdukka.
“After seeing my toys, some people used to say that if I had studied back then, I would have become an engineer,” said Abdukka who dropped out of school at class 2.
“Though I have been making toys for more than 40 years, people came to know about my toys during the lockdown. Nowadays, many people are visiting to purchase toys. I feel really happy after watching the smile on the face of each kid who takes the toy from my workshop,” said Abdukka with a smile.
