More about Sujata Biswas
An alumnus of IIFT Delhi, I always felt something was missing in my job. Whenever I went back to visit my parents, I came across a lot of traditional weavers with whom I used to end up chatting and they used to pour their hearts out about lack of work and menial wages. Their amazing skills were awe-inspiring but I came to know that their livelihoods were a question mark in many cases. These conversations were etched deeply in my heart and prodded me on to a path of working to improve the livelihood of these disempowered communities. Taking a plunge into an industry with no prior experience or knowledge was one of the biggest risks I took in my career. Passion and belief in the weavers and the urge to make a difference in the lives of many such communities across India is what drove me to take the plunge. ‘The idea isn’t about working with a single weaver or a couple of weavers but adopting the entire family of weaver and empowering them. Thereby, making our own family bigger, one weaver at a time’.
Suta is a mindful, artisan-led brand that is best known for reintroducing sarees as everyday wear and for reviving several heirloom indigenous crafts.
Before co-founding Suta, Taniya (Ta) and I were both passionate about creating a venture of our own, which would serve the greater good. We both let go of lucrative corporate jobs, driven by this vision and our passion for meaningful change. Suta was born of our own nostalgic love for cotton sarees – those worn by the womenfolk in our homes.
We wanted to bring back sarees into the mainstream as versatile garments for everyday wear, instead of being relegated to pujas and festivities alone. That’s how Suta came to be.
Today, we’re focused on reviving heirloom Indian crafts through our products and finding them audiences across India and even internationally. Our motto is to ensure that the weavers and artisans we work with (17,000+) have a regular source of income, the means and motivation to pursue their crafts, and do not have to migrate from their ancestral homes to larger cities in search of work.
As co-founders, we follow a very fluid process and both of us jointly undertake our responsibilities. We believe that we work best when we work together, and that our two minds are better than either by itself. That said, I am better with more analytical processes and decisions, while Ta is a creative minefield.
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