An Indian retiree who lost his 39-year-old wife during the Covid-19 outbreak has spent £2,500 (250,000 rupees) on a life-sized duplicate doll built in her image.
Tapas Sandilya, 65, a retired government servant, commissioned a sculptor to make a silicone statue of his late girlfriend Indrani, who died on May 4, 2021, at the age of 59.
Tapas was compelled to isolate her at their house in Kolkata during India’s second wave of Covid, which proved considerably more severe than the first.
But today, Indrani’s image sits on the sofa in her favorite seat, dressed in a sari and gold jewelry, her hair coiffed perfectly by Tapas himself.
Tapas recalled visiting a Hindu temple with his late wife some years ago and marveling at a particularly lifelike statue of a holy figure.
He stated that Indrani joked that if she died before him, she would desire a comparable statue created in her likeness.
Tapas returned to the temple where his wife had made the statement while mourning in the months following Indrani’s death and was encouraged to follow through.
The statue is now positioned in Indrani’s favorite area, arms crossed and a tranquil smile on her face. It is clothed in an Assamese silk sari similar to the one Indrani wore at her son’s wedding reception.
Tapas stated that his family members were opposed to the idea, but maintained that having a monument constructed in her likeness to memorialize her was no different from individuals displaying images of their late loved ones at home.
After months of consideration, the former civil servant called out Sculptor Subimal Das, who creates sculptures for public buildings and museums out of wax, fiberglass, and silicone.
Das stated that the sculpture of Indrani was particularly difficult to execute because he had never seen her and could not make any casts.
Tapas and Das worked for days on a clay replica of Indrani’s body before Das created a 3D representation of the deceased woman’s face.
Das assembled multiple images of Indrani to guarantee the statue’s expression was as realistic as possible.
