When Kalidas Jayaram and Tarini Kalingarayar got engaged in Chennai last week, a Malayali dentist emerged as a ‘star performer’, thanks to her amazing doodling skills. Dr Shoba Philip, of Kochi, grabbed attention for designing the e-vite and customised soft copies of the invitation, and also doing live doodling of the betrothal.
One of her regular clients, Alka Suresh, co-founder Elysian Dreamscapes, along with her partners, actor Aparna Balamurali and cinematographer Mahesh Rajan, roped in Shoba for the ceremony, which was followed by a cocktail party at Chariot Beach Resort in Mahabalipuram.
Kalidas, known for his roles in Malayalam and Tamil movies, and Tarini, a former Miss Universe runner-up 2021, meticulously planned their engagement theme, featuring pastel colours and lots of white and pink lotuses. Shoba also themed her works based on the colour scheme.
“The e-vite took almost a fortnight to complete,” she says. “Live doodling was the real challenge.”
It put Shoba’s creative mettle to test, as she he had to recreate the stage and setting within a few hours.“There were two settings – the betrothal in the morning, and a cocktail party of about 200 guests in the evening,” she says.
“My joy knew no bounds when both the e-vite and the live doodle project were appreciated by Kalidas, Tarini, Jayaram, Parvathy, and the guests.” People close to her say the 33-year-old ‘doodle dentist’ has been highly sought after among her friends and family circles for seven years. How does the busy dentist find time for doodle projects? “I strike a balance between the two. Usually, I doodle during breaks in my dentistry work and leisure time” she says.
Shoba adds that doodling kept her buoyant throughout her pregnancy as well. “I used to keep myself busy drawing while carrying my daughter, Olivia Mariam Kurien,” she smiles. “I inherited art from my maternal grandmother, Mariamma, who was a prolific artist. My parents encouraged me to pursue my passion. I, however, took up art as a serious pursuit in 2016, thanks to encouragement from my husband, Arun Kurien, and his friend Nikhil Rajeev.”
Since then, there has been no looking back. Recently, Shoba’s work adorned the walls of Elamkulam Metro Station in Kochi. And with the Christmas/New Year season coming up, she has set up an ‘art room’ in her home for designing personalised, handmade greeting cards.