India, Aug. 21 -- Kirat Brahma began making dolls when he was six. His first one was a papier-mache bird, he says.

He made the figurines because he loved crafts as a child, but also because the blonde dolls and plastic toys around him didn't seem to have anything in common with the tales his grandmother told: of magical birds, Bodo farmers who turned warriors overnight, and powerful queens reflected in the moon.

Bridging this gap, between the stories of his people and the toys their children play with, has been his mission ever since.

As a young man, he enrolled at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, graduated in 2015, worked for years in animation. But I think I was always going to find my way back to toys, says Brahma, 35, s...