Bags of fun

Not every joy is self-made

Sometimes a bunch of like-minded, get together to create happiness.

Crafting and stitching are not just hobbies in our family. But an activity to create joy together. From a very young age, I have seen my mother sewing forks and inners for me. Her artistic sense never took off its flight as she remained a homemaker. Her aesthetic sense and design changed from one direction to another. It showed even in her creative cooking.

I too followed her passion for some time till I discovered my own. During my twenties, I strayed away from my original personality. Fell apart many times till

I realized what I was meant for. Slowly gathered all the broken pieces of my mind and clutched the real me - what I inherited. I became a graphic designer and a poet. I gathered words like exquisite pearls from the sea of thoughts and wove them into poems.

The pen was not only the tool to quest my artistic urge. But also scissors. The moment my daughters were born, I became like my mother. Cutting and crafting the magical images for my little ones. For many years I remained a homemaker with an artistic touch.

Years apart, I and my parents started living together. My father fell prey in the cruel hands of fate and suffered form Chronic Kidney Failure. My mother turned weak and gloomy watching my father enduring from illness. She started having less sleep. Strangely, I noticed my mother filled her void stitching with her hands.

She made sofa covers and surprisingly small pouches recycling old clothes. Her magical hands were back.

Seeing her talent flourish, I bought her automatic, electronic sewing machine in exchange for the manual 70’s Singer machine. But It never appealed to her.

She got satisfaction stitching the old school way.

My daughters have fashion tastes of their own. They never let go of their favorite dresses even if they outgrew. And our wardrobes were stacked with piles of old clothes. Here again, my mother became a savior and began recycling kid’s small dresses into handmade bags. By the time plastic bags were strictly banned by the authorities and cloth bags became a trend, My mother had converted many tiny dresses into grocery bags.

With the mind of an entrepreneur I suggested her to convert her passion to a business. But every time she laughed it off. She collected broken hair clips, hair buns and necklace to add as a decoration for her bags. Every birthdays and holidays didn't pass off without her handmade gift. Girls became more and more obsessed with their grandmother’s bags . Slowly their favorite dresses got new lease of life . Either in the form of lunch kit or a pencil pouch that made a fashion statement. They got bags for each occasions . One for skating classes, one for drawing and another as their money pouch all with their t-shirts. Their enthusiasm made my mother to try new techniques and on new kind of cloths . Even her sari was not spared. And the extra length was converted into a matching grocery bag !!

Like a jinx my mother got another blow. Her thyroid abnormality resulted in trigger finger and the nerves of her hand started twisting . The pain was so unbearable she can hardly hold things . The bad news is that cutting with scissors is a nightmare for her. Only a surgery can rectify her nerve issues. As my father is getting weaker day by day, she cannot think of a surgery. After all his strength is my mother. Many bags remained unfinished. Again the wings of her creativity were cut off even before showing to the world.

This was when I and my girls stepped to bring back her enthusiasm. she got 3 pairs of hands and loads of trendy ideas. When we fall short of bags , we would open her collection and the work begins.

Lo!! a new bag again. Of course she is still the creative head and I am just her assistant .Proud to be one too. Our love for bags has created new memories in our life. Hoping one day my mother would be identified with her creations and praying for her hands to be pain free.

Me and Ma braiding handle for our new bag !!