Recycling Your Emotions | Suvarnarekha Devadhar | Silk Route

Suvarnarekha Devadhar
Director, Silk Route

Memory is a gift of God to mankind. Our memories are connected with many persons, incidents, and objects. Many times we go on storing objects as we have some memories related to them. Sari is very closely connected to women. Many saris are kept abandoned just because they bear some memories. Suvarnarekha, with her brainchild Silk Route, comes forward with a fantastic option to up cycle them.

Suvarnarekha Devadhar is an archeologist by qualification. She is director at Adisan Laboratories Pvt. Ltd. a pharmaceutical company. She has an inbuilt inclination for antic objects and no doubt she knows the essence and value of such objects.

Sari is traditional wear which is very close to the heart of women. One just can’t imagine a conversation between two women without the subject of sari. Sari has a tradition, relation, and memoirs of mother or grandmother connected to it. Traditional saris are handed over to the women in the next generation. Many of these saris last long but these days working women get rare chances to wear them. Many times these saris are torn or damaged but still, they are kept in closed cupboards. Silk Route presents a very nice option on this. It not only upcycles such saris but also utilizes them in a very modern form.

This journey started in Suvarnarekha’s own life with an interesting story. She had many saris which were not in use for years. She was looking for someone who can make few good articles out of those saris. Fortunately, she got one tailor lady for doing this job. Suvarnarekha was not sure whether she will do a good job or spoil it, still, she took the risk and the thing worked well. The tailor lady made bedspreads, cushion covers, and other stuff.

A friend of Suvarnarekha came to her home on some occasion and was eventually mesmerized by looking at this stuff. She quickly nodded for sending her saris to her for making such stuff. A couple of her friends ordered for making such stuff and at this point in time, the idea of Silk Route was incubated and eventually initiated.

Then Suvarnarekha contacted SMILE, which is an initiative for Self Help Groups of women to search for few ladies who can join her venture. She got two ladies which she confirmed after inspecting products made by them. She collected a few of her own saris, collected a few from her friends and relatives, and started experimenting. After few successful works in few months, Suvarnarekha decided to enter in commercial mode, and finally, the business was named ‘Silk Route’ on Gudhi Padwa in 2018.

Today Silk Route has a team of 8 persons. Mostly the ladies work at their homes and submit the finished products to the office of Silk Route. Now they have five themes established which are as follows:-

1.) Pooja : clothes for decorating pooja stool, for sitting on the floor, cloth for covering Ganesha Idol, and Gudhis for Gudhi Padwa.
2.) Kitchen : Table mat, fabric trays, tea coaster, freeze-oven top, aprons.
3.) Maternity : Headgear, frock, baby wrap, sleeping bag, duffle bag to carry clothing of the newborn, organizer.
4.) Diwan Set : Bedspread, cushion cover, load cover.
5.) Bedroom, Living : curtains, double bedspread, carpet.

The silk route also makes other stuff like bags. Around 12 to 15 bags can be made out of a single sari. Dhoti, Navwari, and special attires for Mauji Bandhan ceremony and dresses for children, jackets are also designed. They provide saris for Gauri-Ganpati also.

In the lock down period, Suvarnarekha made an experiment with the help of her only male office colleague, i.e. creating backpacks, bags, and sacks from used jeans. Now she gets 15 to 17 jeans every month for up cycling.

Another unique experiment was ready-made Gudhi. Gudhi Padwa is the first day of Hindu New Year which is celebrated all over the globe. This product of Silk Route was appreciated worldwide and was purchased by clients from the USA, UK, Dubai, and Singapore.

Suvarnarekha did not look at this venture as a commercial business. It is just an outlet for her passion. In the initial days, she was charging for the raw material only. Now she is earning little profit out of it.

Today she has hundreds of customers. The percentage of repeat customers is more because of their customized services. A base of fully satisfied customers is the wealth Suvarnarekha has with her.

She recently initiated a joint venture with her friend Snehal Kulkarni Named Silk Route Exhibitors. Their first exhibition in September 2021 was a grand success. The next one is planned for October 2021. These exhibitions are focused on refreshing the covid-19 affected small entrepreneurs. They have a motto to organize exhibitions on various subjects in the future.

She has the satisfaction of providing employment to 7-8 ladies from the slum areas. A couple of them didn’t have enough funds to purchase a sewing machine. Suvarnarekha purchases the sewing machines for them and today these ladies are established on their own.

Every fold of sari has a memoir attached to it. Nobody wants to lose these saris and the memories. The option offered by Silk Route is a perfect blend of conserving the fabric soaked in sweet memories. Let’s experience a new way to upcycle our emotions.

suvarnadevadhar@gmail.com
8087947934