Anamika was my school best friend, she was keenly intruiged by fashion in all forms and very much interested in pusuing fashion as a career ever since we were in primary school. We were batchmates, and we spent our free time doodling or sketching new clothing designs together (which we considered to be trendy those days, I’m talking ten years back here). She was greatly enouraged by her family- which consisted of her housewife mother, working father in an MNC and a younger brother who had little knowledge of fashion but was always readily available when it came to extending wholehearted support for his sister- be it for any new enterprise or endeavour that she took up in her life.
Gradually, years passed in school, we all grew up. We were so eager to grow up and be adults but we realized that there is little to no fun in adulting, taking up new responsibilities seemed to be a burden we all were apparently entitled to, along with exceedingly unreasonable pressure in academics. I took up Science, and quite naturally, had it the worst when it came to academics. My best friend was in Humanities, and the very little communication we had was in brief encounters in the school corridors.
Her mom, on the other hand, was in constant touch with my mom- they were very good friends and had become accustomed to somehow growing on each other. Unlike me and Anamika, who were apparently “best friends” and yet barely spoke in school, especially after our change of streams. Anamika’s mom was an active housewife, a doting mom and in addition, she had opened up a new avenue as an additional source of income for herself. The clothing business was something that had been a source of immense fascination for her, much like her daughter. She had a background in commerce, and like a true entrepreneur which the modern Indian woman is, had started a clothing store of her own based in her home. She operated virtually as well, also she put up advertisements and banners near to her home. Word of mouth helped in promoting her business among potential clients as well. And of course, like a true friend, my mother happened to be one of her first customers, and without being unbiased in any way, she had mentioned to me that she was in fact, amazed by the quality of the products her friend was selling, that too at reasonable prices. The clothing items she primarily dealt with were bed sheets and bed covers, pillow covers, and also women’s salwars, lehengas and dupattas. Her clients could buy dupatta online from her brandat discounted prices as well, various portals have opened up in recent days for online dupatta shopping in India which can be utilised to the optimum extent by sellers and entreprenurs who want a lasting business in the clothing and fashion industry.
