What does spirituality mean to you?
It is the quest to find out where I am coming from and where I am going.

Do you believe you are guided and protected by a superior force?
When I see the world around me, I feel there is God, that there is something that makes this universe work. And we are like on a river whose flow can’t be stopped, but we can direct the speed and path of the boat, if we are lucky. In fact, nothing happens without work. So we can negotiate with fate, but we can’t determine it entirely. I could’ve never planned or fathomed so many surprising things that happened in my life.

Do you believe you have a special mission or purpose in this life?
My purpose never was and is not to be a fashion designer. Fashion can be quite a light-weight occupation and the industry works on making people unhappy about the way they look. Rather, acting as a catalyst in the revival of interest in textile crafts has been my passion. It happened by accident. I moved to Kolkata when I got married and discovered the most sophisticated and skilled craftspeople in the hinterland villages, with absolutely no work. So I started collaborating with them. Then I opened a shop in Kolkata, the first boutique in India, so I could sell their work. Gradually people began to copy it and along with others in the country, it created a wave of interest. Years later, those villages were full of work. I could’ve never fathomed such a transformation and success. I could’ve never engineered it myself. Someone was pushing me into it and directing my boat on that river…

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