#I believe life is an outcome of a multitude of experiences, triumphs and trials stitched together by our attitudes and perceptions every single day.

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. Hence I grew closer 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 among 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 installments 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 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 using 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 and shorts, asking me to make bags using my own ideas and I welcomed that.

With time, 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 jewelry made by crochet and got successful in that also. I have sold a lot of crochet jewelry 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?

 #OutsideWork

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.