I was the youngest of 5 children born to a banker
father and a homemaker mother, but I didn’t have anyone in the family doting
over me. However I grew close to my mother and always observed her as she
looked after the family, making the most of the meagre resources we had those
times. My mother, a dynamic woman, though not highly educated herself and not able
to coach me in my academics, always encouraged me to dabble in everything –
writing, music, stitching, painting, batik dyeing, cane work, gardening,
machine embroidery, mehndi, cooking, baking, crochet, macramé and more- and
excel wherever I could.
At school, my teachers encouraged me in all things
I loved to do. They happily permitted me to miss classes to represent my school
in inter-school contests - literary and otherwise - for they knew I would come
back with accolades, apart from making friends and learning something new.
Since I was consistently one amongst the top 5 in our class, the teachers were
sure I would catch up with my studies.
In short, the atmosphere both at home and in school
was conducive to pursuing whatever I felt good doing, which is why today I am
open to learning new things, especially something apart from the mainstream –
studying then, working now. Doing something new is one of the things that
prevent me from getting exhausted with life even as I work full time in a
continuously growing city of Bangalore, India.
Somewhere in my pre-teen years, the sight of a
sewing machine constantly on the living room table caught my attention and I
felt I had to give it a try, and my mother only fanned my interest. That kindled
my long-lasting passion for making anything that is stitched. She had purchased
the sewing machine on instalments in the early years of their marriage. Those
days, it was manually operated, meaning it had a handle which had to be turned
by hand to get the stitches – unlike the leg-machine or the motor-operated
machine that is quite common nowadays.
Initially, I started with stitching together pieces
of material left over after my mother’s stitching. Then, I went on to making
patterned quilts with little or no guidance from my mother.
Alongside I learnt to make frocks and small bags.
While in my student years, I stitched frocks for money, which helped me buy
artificial jewelry for myself and that taught me the value of money.
Fast forward to my working years, when I got into a
full-time job and soon had a daughter also. I stitched frocks for her, using
embroidery and smocking - skills that I had picked up during my school days.
Being a nature lover, I soon realised plastic was
wrecking the environment, and began stitching bags, to substitute the plastic
bags around. Having got used to learning by seeing, I picked up styles and
patterns on my way to office and elsewhere to replicate them adding my own
creativity. I offered to recycle old garments and upholstery into bags for
enhancing their life.
Soon people in my neighbourhood seemed to warm up
to the idea of using cloth bags by their sheer look and durability and began
buying bags from me at stalls on festival and annual days. Some gave their used
jeans pants and shorts, asking me to make bags using my own ideas and I
welcomed that.
The variety of bags and purses I make has only got
better and more interesting; I have not had enough of making them, such is
their charm over me!
Sometime end of 2015, I tried my hand at jewellery
made by crochet and thanks to the Universe, I got successful in that also. I
have sold a lot of crochet jewellery and gifted a few also.
I have made many once-off things like costumes and
paper bags, but stitching will always remain close to my heart. In 2012, I got
my own label AMMA DESIGNS in honour of my mother who I fondly called Amma,
because it was she who initiated me into this marvellous world of stitching.
I have learnt a lot of lessons from stitching, few of
which I share below –
1. Most things can be mended with a few stitches –
many relationships likewise can be mended with a few concerted efforts.
2. Different materials stitched together make for a
colourful quilt – so also, people of diverse attitudes, skills and backgrounds
working together with passion towards a common goal, can achieve a lot for
their workplace.
3. Several times, the back of an embroidered piece
looks ugly – even messy – with cross running threads and knots, yet they all
show up a beautiful intricate front. Isn’t that true of heated debates, long
hours, meals foregone and a handful of hurt egos, all of which result into
fantastic presentations and clenched deals?
Yes, stitching is that one thing that de-stresses me after work, however difficult or challenging the day might have been. In fact the lessons I mentioned above help me to work with ease in all situations for I know everything ultimately works for good.
My life outside work is as exciting as, if not more
than, the one at my workplace, thanks to the exciting, exhilarating world of
stitching.
- Published in Linkedin on 6th February 2017
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