I am what my roots make me- A phenomenal Assamese woman!

I climbed the stairs and stepped into the quaint little boutique located at Guwahati’s B Baruah Road. Five people, four women and a six-year-old child, occupied the room. I looked to my left, while one woman sat silently looking on, another, in front of her chatted on animatedly with the lady sitting behind the counter to my right. The fourth lady stood in front of me across the room.

As I entered, her eyes fell on me and I walked up to her with my query, “I’m here to see Anindita…” She pointed towards the counter and I turned around to face the lady in question. She turned from her customer to look at me curiously; “Rooplin…” I introduced myself. She smiled, “Oh Rooplin, please have a seat.” She motioned to the empty chair beside the first woman and continued talking to the woman standing in front of her.

 

Meet the beautiful girl-next-door, Anindita Hazarika- designer, entrepreneur and a loving mother of an adorable six-year old boy, Ayush. A BSc and an MBA, Anindita started her career in Operations in Hindustan Coca Cola, before moving on to Retail Coordinations at Aircel and finally joining Star Cement as Assistant Manager- Human Resources. One of those few exceptional people who dare to abandon a well settled career to pursue their passion, Anindita gave up an exceptional career to choose her long-bred desire and established her own designer-wear store H2A2 Creations in 2010. Now in her mid-30s, the designer has managed to establish a niche for herself in the increasingly competitive Guwahati market.

As I sat down I took in the arrangement of the room. Some of her designs hung from four rods attached to the wall to my left. Each rod had about 4-5 dresses of different styles hanging from it. The colours suggested, she is not a bling lover but she definitely knew how to bring out the highlight amidst subtlety. Below the dangling clothes, a couch was placed against the wall. Various cushions, adorned with beautiful designer covers (obviously her creation) rested on the couch against the wall. Across the room, two shelves were put up against the right hand corner of the room in an L-formation. They were full of her various creations- sarees, mekhela sadors, kurtas, salwar sets, cushion covers, curtains and what not! Above the shelf two multicolour curtains hung lazily over the windows. “This woman knows how to use colours without making it too overwhelming…” I thought to myself.

I turned my attention to the conversation in the room. Anindita was telling her customer about a bulk order for cushion covers that she had recently delivered to Ramdhenu, an ethnic e-emporium based at Gurgaon. She said she has stopped concentrating too much on cushion covers nowadays, since very few people here take interested in her pure silk and raw silk designer covers. On the other hand, they were quite a craze in her out of state exhibitions. The customer however, seemed quite interested in them. She said she had purchased them earlier at her exhibition in the NEDFi Haat, and would like to purchase more if available. 

As the customers left, she turned to me saying, “I hope I am not delaying you Rooplin…” And I replied with a smile, “No, no! I have all the time I need today.”

Anindita told me designing had always been her passion, and she always wore her own designs. But, it rested somewhere at the back of her mind only as a hobby, while she chose to pursue Management as her career. After 8 years in the corporate sector, she decided to turn back to where her heart belonged- her passion for designing, and thus H2A2 creations was established.

“I never took any formal training in apparel designing,” she said. “I held numerous exhibitions in different places across India under NSIC. I evolved while on the job, and my experiences taught me most of what I know today. Looking at the different styles and creations in those exhibitions helped me immensely.” I was instinctively reminded of her Facebook page, where she introduced herself as ‘a phoenix… born out of my own mistakes…’

Assam’s traditional wear has evolved greatly over the past few years. While Paat has been an ever-reigning favourite, a new class of buyers has emerged among the age group 20-45, who have started showing an inclination towards light, subtle and comfortable fabrics, yet still embedded with traditional elegance. While traditional Assam silk attire stands out easily because of its rich thread and Guna motifs, many buyers also prefer stone and bead works on the same dresses to add to the bling-factor. “Mainly the impact of television, serials and cinema…” Anindita says. “Besides, a mekhela sador set made in Paat or Muga, with exquisite and new motif would cost somewhere around Rs 12,000 at a designer label store. But lighter fabrics are available at about 30% lesser price, and at that price too, they are able to afford a designer’s creativity and variety making it their own unique style statement. In addition, they also earn the confidence of wearing single edition dresses. Fabrics like crepe, georgette, chiffon, chanderi silk are very much in vogue for the same; they are also very comfortable and easy to manage.”

A number of Anindita’s creations have a unique ethnicity about them, the reason being her reluctance in bringing contemporary motifs like squares and triangles into traditional Assamese attire. She would rather prefer to bring in elements from two different traditions together. She cites an example where kundan and appliqué work could be used on traditional Paat and Muga. That way, not only give the dress gets a fresh and distinctive look, but its ethnicity is also preserved. She showed me a lovely plain (or as we call it Uka) Paat mekhela sador set in light pink. The bareness of the otherwise simple set had been compensated with beautiful stone and bead studded motifs along the border, keeping the centre simple. The work not only gave a whole new identity to the traditional Paat, but it also gave a dignified look to the modest colour. “A perfect balance of sensibility and grandeur…” I thought.

 

A trend has been running in the Guwahati market since around the past 2-3 years. Many Assam silk stores have been selling mekhela sador sets embellished with stones and beads. The style has been applied on even main sets especially meant for traditional Assamese weddings. “I personally, have never been quite a fan of this style. The Assamese wedding set is just too grand in itself to need any further embellishments. It only tones down the stunning contrast of white and gold that brings out the beauty of the bride” says Anindita.

At a time when brides across India have given up on the conventional red colour and usual designs of bridal trousseau, to embrace bold and bright colours like fuchsia, pink, yellow, orange, green and so on, where is Assam in catching up with the trend? “It is already here!” she says, “I have designed for a bride who chose a red coloured Paat main set for the Hom ceremony (Yagya). And then, there was another bride who chose a green coloured main set for the same ceremony. I don’t think they will renounce the Paat mekhela sador completely, I believe Assamese families have not yet opened up that much to abandon such an integral part of their culture, and to be honest, I prefer it that way. Our roots are all that keep reminding who we are; if we abandon them completely, what right does one have to be called an Axomiya?”

Anindita says, “I am not much of a gleam lover. I make my designs in solid colours, keeping the bling-factor as low as possible. Your dress should command attention, not demand it. The key to successfully teaming up a saree or mekhela sador with a piece of jewellery is, if your dress is extravagant, keep your jewellery low-key and vice versa.”

A number of traders from outside the region have been setting up business here and cheating people, offering them low quality fabrics and designs in the name of Assam silk at outrageous prices. Anindita comments, “I believe every woman should look beautiful. My sole aim in setting up H2A2 Creations is to bring genuine and affordable designer wear within the reach of every Assamese woman, so that she can proudly symbolize a phenomenal Assamese woman.”

Placing the empty tea cup over the billing counter, I stand up to take a few photographs, more for its memory, than for my record. The designs hanging from the rods have, for some reason, made a special place for themselves in my heart. “My mom wanted to come here with me. I will definitely come back with her someday…” I tell Anindita. She smiles in reply.

With a final look around her boutique and a promise to take my mother there sometime, I take her leave with a smile on my face. As I just begin to descend the stairs, I hear a gleeful squeal behind me. I turn back again to see a smiling Ayush sprawled across the floor, busy in his own games as his mother looks on adoringly.