India man spends US$30,000 on silicone sculpture of wife who died of Covid-19
How far would you go to preserve a loved one's memory? A retired civil servant in eastern India has gone to great lengths to ensure that his late wife's presence endures.
Tapas Sandilya, who lost his wife of 39 years to Covid-19 during India's brutal second wave of infections in 2021, is alleviating his grief by keeping a life-size, 30kg silicone figure of her in his living room.
Sandilya was not with his wife Indrani when she died aged 59 on May 4, 2021. He was in isolation when she was taken to hospital. She died with no one at her bedside.
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Now he sits beside her sculpture, in her favourite spot on the sofa in their Kolkata home. He puts his arms around her shoulders, combs her hair, and arranges the folds of her sari. She is a silent presence when guests come over.
In the months after her death, he recalled a trip they took many years earlier to a Hindu temple, where they had seen a very realistic religious statue.
"It was then that Indrani told me of her desire for a similar statue [of her to be made] if she happened to pass away before me," Sandilya told The Times of India.
His relatives discouraged him from going through with his unrealistic idea. But Sandilya argued that if people can keep pictures of their dead loved ones, then why not statues?
He eventually contacted sculptor Subimal Das, who makes figures out of wax, fibreglass and silicone for public buildings and museums. He has also made such figures for families in the past - on seven occasions.
Das said this particular sculpture was challenging to make. He needed to use old photos of Indrani to create a 3D image in order to help get her facial expression right.
The rest of her head brought other problems.
"It took three weeks just to graft on the hair [wig]," Das said, adding that "Mr Sandilya was very particular, wanting it curling a bit this way and falling a bit that way."
After six months and at a cost of 2.5 million rupees (US$30,200), the statue then needed to be clothed.
Sandilya asked his old tailor to customise a new blouse for Indrani, to go along with the silk sari she had worn for their son's wedding. He also chose to accessorise his late wife's figure with her favourite gold jewellery.
On the day Indrani was finished and dressed, Sandilya went to Das' studio. The moment he set eyes on her, he - like the sculpture - was speechless.
"He couldn't get any words out. He couldn't speak. He was so overwhelmed and moved, as though a very deep wish had been fulfilled," said Das. "I knew from his reaction that I'd done a good job."
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
