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The shop is a sight to behold, tastefully designed and decorated by Usha herself. Antique wooden pillars form a mandap where women can sit on a mat-covered platform to look at the sarees. A stairway leads to a mezzanine floor, where there is a great collection on salwars and dress materials. How did she get into the business? That is a long but interesting story. A journey that saw her as the first licensed woman pilot in south India, and from there she discovered her talent for writing while writing about her flying experiences. A stint with Doordarshan was followed by programmes for AIR. It was after this that she stumbled on the world of textiles and designing.
She started stocking woven cottons from different parts of the country and delighted customers kept coming back for more. Using her ingenuity and creativity, she came up with new marketing ideas. Holiday sales and fashion shows, travelling to Bombay and other cities in the north with her collection of weavers from south India were some of them.
Then Usha decided to part ways with Urvashi. She set up shop in her own garage and lumber room. Today, her shop in Nungambakkam has many an antique piece she has collected over the years. Usha travels all over the country to bring together her collection of sarees. There are cottons from Kanchipuram and Rasipuram, and polycottons with innovative designs. Silks and cottons from Orissa and Bengal. There are Kantha-embroidered sarees, Kalamkaris from Andhra Pradesh, bandanis from Ahmadabad and Hyderabad cottons. Looking back on her life, she says, “It has all been so interesting and varied”. Contact address:
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Copyright
2009, Chennai Interactive
Business Services (P) Ltd. |
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Usha Ragunathan offers fresh flowers from the garden before the Ganesa painting set into the doorframe of the shop. That done, she unlocks the door and enters
'Ushas' her boutique in Nungambakkam.
When
Urvashi, a boutique in the city, approached her to run the business for them, she took up the challenge without any prior knowledge of textiles whatsoever. Working hard to educate herself, she travelled widely to collect sarees to stock the shop. Her first collection of hand printed silk sarees was sold right out! After that, there was no looking back.
She held regular exhibitions all over the country. Her collections were featured in magazines like
Eve's Weekly and Femina and were adjudged the best in the country.
