Needle and thread were perhaps in her blood, which she inherited from her mother. In her college days she used to earn what we called ‘pocket money’ by selling items of needlework. Later as she started to work full time, it remained as a hobby and sometimes she arranged exhibitions. After her marriage broke, she was faced with the challenge of raising her son as a single mother and earning living as well. Instead of looking for a salaried job she opened a small business of embroidered apparel, with her mother’s support, and courage, that only comes from desperation.
Her tiny little shop was opened without taking any loan. Starting very small, and proceeding one step at a time over almost two decades, her brand Vrindar eventually went from a tiny rented shop to a larger one, and finally to the present store that she owns. Over the years she has trained more than fifteen hundred women, mostly under-privileged. She never charges her students for their lessons; she only asks them to bring their own materials. Many of them still work with her, and some are even working independently. Presently around seventy of them work for Vrindar, earning their living. As Vrindar started to grow, she and her mother gradually developed some patterns and stitches that their clients call the signature motifs of Vrindar. They also appreciate the colour combinations that is unique of this brand.
She has always had a kind of wanderlust in her and wanted to explore the indigenous designs and crafts of our state, which took her to the interiors of Bankura and Purulia. There she has conducted workshops with tribal women, encouraging them to work with their indigenous motifs. While interacting with tribal communities, her green thumb got a new impetus. All along, she has tried to make Vrindar an eco-friendly enterprise. Their fabrics and materials are predominantly natural, mostly cotton and silk. Carry bags are made in-house, using old newspaper and cloth. For many years she had been planting trees and plants in her neighborhood, cleaning plastic waste in an organized way. But in the rural areas, for the first time, she could involve herself with organic farming, rainwater harvesting, well digging, planting of fruit trees on a much larger scale. This led to the idea of Prana.
For quite some time, she was feeling an urge to take her tree planting efforts from my neighborhood to the other parts of her city, Kolkata and beyond. As she shared her ideas with some of her friends, she received very positive reactions from them, and hence a small group was formed. The group is called Prana, which means life in Sanskrit. The aim was to start small, planting around five hundred trees in Kolkata and suburban areas in one year. They ended the year with more than 800, and the number has grown steadily since. Her son, who is a young entrepreneur himself, is also helping her with this project. Prana not only plants trees, but also tries to ensure their survival. Urmi has come a long way from the day she took a difficult decision to not try for a salaried employment, but still has a long way to go. It has been a journey worth every moment, that has not only given her strength, but has also helped others to be independent.
You may visit Vrindar at 129 kakulia road, Dhakuria by appointments given the pandemic and more details on Urmi's work can be found at Instagram https://www.instagram.com/vrindarurmi... and on her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/vrindarurmi
