11-year-old Sathya Udayan a Stunner with Expertise in Hair-dressing

KOCHI:
Aged only 11, Sathya Udayan’s performance has made her the cynosure of all eyes at the hair-dressing and beauty therapy competitions going on in this city as part of the ongoing India Skills Kerala 2020 being organised by the state government.

At the VLCC Institute of Beauty and Nutrition in suburban Ponnurunni where the zonal contest is on, this class-5 student is giving a tough challenge to candidates who are far senior and with longer years of experience in hair-dressing and beauty therapy.

At best, Sathya of Pathanamthitta district has just three years of familiarity in the skill in which she is vying for a prize. For, she was eight years old when her mother, as a beautician, began to take her to weddings on assignments.

It was only last year that the mom, Ambily Udayan, began to notice the girl’s talent. As some of her customers, too, started encouraging Sathya, the school student was initiated into the nuances of the skill. “Ten of them came forward to ensure Sathya got training. I, alongside teaching Sathya hair-dressing and beauty-enhancement skills, made it a point to take her to the weddings for which I would go as a beautician,” says Ambily, whose husband Udayakumar P S is a contractor.

Sathya, with her elder sister Bhama and parents, lives in Pandalam, where she is a student at the NSS School. It was only days ahead of the India Skills Kerala that the family got to know about the preliminary stage of the event being held by the Industrial Training Department and Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence — both under the Labour and Skills Department.

“We still could participate in the early rounds at Kazhakkoottam (near Thiruvananthapuram) and Ernakulam,” reveals Udaya Kumar. “We got good encouragement and cooperation from Sathya’s teachers at the school as well.”

Of late, Sathya has been assisting her mother at Ambily’s beauty parlour. “My friends know about my skills,” the girl chuckles. “It’s another matter none of them has tested it with my hands.”

The annual India Skills Kerala has 42 skills in its current edition as against 20 last year. Of them, 20 are academic skills, while the rest are specialised. The grand State-level finale is scheduled from February 22 to 24 at Kozhikode. The winners at those competitions will get Rs 1,00,000 each as prize money, and runners up Rs 50,000. All finalists will get Rs 10,000 each.

The state-level winners will qualify for the national competitions. The prize-winning performers in that round will represent the country at World Skills 2021 in Shanghai, China.