Barbie’s, Pokemon, Batman, are the gods of children world over. The toys have such business potential that companies think nothing of spending millions of dollars in research, product development and design. The ethics of business have lost with growing profit motive. The recent lead discovery in the toys have made the parents worried whenever they think of getting their angels a bundle of joy with a toy and these toys are promoted aggressively. In contrast, the Indian handcrafted toys are laid-back, simple and placid. One form is the Kondapalli toys of Andhra Pradesh. These toys get their name from the village where they are made, Kondapalli near Vijayawada.

ORIGIN
Very little is known about how this craft of toy-making started. Some say that the craftsmen migrated from Madhya Pradesh. Whether the craftsmen knew the craft and brought it with, them, adapting it to local taste and available raw material or the craft was already in existence in the area, is not very well-known. Today a lot of craftsmen learn the craft at training centre set up by the government.

TRAITS
The beauty of these small, cleverly made pieces can not be denied. Tiny they may be, but in their entirety, they capture minutely the day-to-day village life. The toys are incredibly light in weight and holding them in one's hand feels like one is literally grasping at straws.

The unique lightness of the toys is attributed to the wood used in making them - the ponikki, also called punki wood. It is a type of soft wood, commonly found in local forests. The wood of a young tree is called idla ponikki, while wood from an older tree is called nalhi ponikki. Objects can be carved out of both, but the toys are exclusively made from tdla ponikki. With a ban on the felling of these trees, wood has to be bought from private contractors or from government bodies.

THE MAKING
The process of making the toys is not at all time-consuming. In the case of small pieces, a craftsman can carve as many as a dozen a day. The skill of the craftsmen comes to the fore in his ability to carve the object accurately, down to its last detail as a miniature replica. A majority of the toys range from 15 to 40 cm in height. It is in the size that the craftsman captures all the details, the facial expressions, hand gestures, attire, and accessories, with other odds and ends.

Roughly, the process of making the toys involves seasoning the wood. This entails drying the moisture and sap in the wood, as the presence of moisture makes it difficult to carve the wood. The indigenous drying process involves cutting the wood into pieces and slowly steaming it in the heat of paddy husk and sawdust. Once the entire moisture is dried, the wood is ready to be carved.