Out of delicate egg shells, sprinklings of paint, a selection of trimmings and dollops of patience, 71-year-old Mani Cooper conjures up delightful visions that transport the beholder to the world of exotic lifestyles and fairy tales.

Consider Cinderella riding to the ball in her glittering coach made out of a goose egg. The doors on either side open on hinges, while the coach is elaborately decorated with filigree and rhinestones, and drawn by two white horses. Or a Regency jewel casket fashioned out of an ostrich egg painted in opal mint green, decorated with swags of rhinestones and braid. The interior is plush with peach-coloured lining and the casket opens on a hinge while the egg rests on a carved stand.

Cooper began practicing her hobby seven years ago, and invited Mumbai's cognoscenti to feast their eyes on the 100-odd painstakingly decorated eggs in her collection last year. Each ornamental piece decorated in the Fabergé style is a labour of love. But this hasn't been her sole occupation. A lawyer specialising in criminal and family law for nearly 50 years, Cooper worked as a junior in the chambers of noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani. For 13 years, she taught part-time at the Government Law College and the K C College of Law. Yet she found the time for hobbies - painting on silk, parchment craft, quilling, quilting, sculpting with soft air dry clay and bond-a-webbing. A fellow of the Trinity College of Music (London) as a performer in pianoforte, she also holds a teacher's diploma from the Royal School of Music, London.

An avid traveller, she and her husband, eminent senior counsel K S Cooper, have explored the world on exotic cruises where she imbibed many of these crafts. She was introduced to egg craft while on a cruise in the summer of 1997. After the initial demo, she opted for advanced sessions where she was taught the basics about cutting an egg into two - her interest was piqued and she began to read up on the subject. Back home, Cooper worked on perfecting her skills on small canary eggs through to very large emu and ostrich eggs. She picked up the required instruments on her yearly cruise, while the glues, paints, varnishes, rhinestones and trimmings continue to be bought from the UK.

She also buys her goose, guinea fowl, turkey, ostrich and emu eggs from abroad, though emu and ostrich eggs are available in India. Fowl, sparrow and pigeon eggs are obtained locally but she prefers not to buy duck eggs here. "They are white as opposed to the very pale bluish green, aqua-coloured ones you get overseas," she explains. These can be left unpainted, with just a coat of varnish for a glow. She gets quail eggs - "speckled brown, like turkey eggs, with a distinct pattern" - from a friend who orders them for a five-star hotel in Delhi.

Cooper's creations were kept hidden within the confines of her workroom for years. She finally consented to share her passion - egged on by her husband.

The original Fabergé

Easter, the most important feast of the Russian Orthodox church calendar, is celebrated by the exchanging of eggs and three kisses. The Fabergé (pronounced fa-bear-zhay) eggs date back to 1884, when jeweller Carl Fabergé crafted an Easter egg for Czar Alexander III of Russia as a gift for his wife, Maria. From then on, it became tradition for Fabergé to make one for her each year. Fabergé designed Easter eggs for another 11 years until Alexander III died. Then Nicholas II, Alexander's son, continued the tradition. Designs for the Imperial eggs were inspired by historical artworks that Fabergé imitated or copied from his travels or from the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. Events in Russia also inspired design - there were eggs to commemorate the coronation of Czar Nicholas II and the completion of the Trans Siberian Railway.

Egg craft

While Fabergé mainly used metal as his medium, egg craft requires real canary, fowl, duck, quail, emu or ostrich eggs. First, the egg is blown by drilling a hole (sometimes two, one at either end) to remove the contents. The fragile eggshell is sanded to smooth the surface and give it a natural gloss.

After the design is drawn or engraved, the egg is cut - either with an electric drill or an air compress drill (for small and delicate eggs). Then, the decorating begins. This consists of painting, varnishing and glazing the surface, followed by the fixing of hinges, filigree, rhinestones and other trimmings. A final glaze is applied to protect and seal the egg before it can be mounted on an appropriate base or stand.

This is an expensive hobby and none of the paints and trimmings needed are available in India yet. You can get them if you, or your friends, travel abroad.

Also, beginner kits complete with eggs, trimmings and step-by-step instructions can be ordered from websites like www.auscraftnet.com while more experienced 'eggers' can buy kits from www.eggdecoratingaustralia.com. You can buy blown emu eggshells from www.leicestershireemus.com. The website also sells useful instruments, like an electric egg pump that enables you to blow your own eggs.