She is every bit like the genial old lady you see in your homes, the soft smiling, always eager to advise, the quintessential amiable grandmom dressed in diamonds and soft pastel coloured cotton saris. That she is also an equally successful businesswoman behind the now famous Pitambari brand name comes as a surprise. It is even more surprising to learn that this lady is unschooled and did all her learning at home, but can read Sanskrit like the back of her hand.

Sushila Tikmany is no decorative name to any business venture; she has her hands on it, on its every move and decision, specifically on design development. Her inspiration for design and colour comes from nature or motifs she sees everywhere. She has no formal training in fashion.

She uses her own natural instinct to combine colours and designs to create her Pitambari range of saris, blouses, kurtas and lehengas. She is one screaming example to millions of women in this country that basic instinct can pay great dividends provided as Sushila Tikmany herself notes, “hard work and God's grace is on your side. Both have helped me make Pitambari what it is today.”

Born in Dhaka and bred in Kolkata before being married off to a conservative Marwari family, Sushila Tikmany did one thing brilliantly— embroidery. She began doing some on her own saris and then as requests from family members poured in, she did some for them too, till her morning walk got in the way and got her thinking about saris as a business. Way back in 1969, while taking a walk at a nearby lake, she observed a number of refugee families living without food and shelter and little children begging for food after being displaced from Bangladesh.

Moved by their sorry plight, she offered to teach women in these houses some embroidery and employ them as workers to start off a sari business and simultaneously help these women earn their bread. So with a little help of Rs 500 from her sister-in-law, she began tutoring these women and started making saris. The fear was palpable because she felt responsible for these women and knew that her saris had to sell for her to give these women their salaries. And they did. The response to her saris was wonderful; soon word spread and demand for her saris grew.

She opened her label with an exhibition, where sales were good. She later began retailing from her house. Over the years, her customer base grew and her sons, daughters, nephews and their wives, husbands and grandchildren too joined the expanding business. With them came in fresh ideas for marketing the brand name and drawing up an image for the brand, Pitambari.

Giving in to their pressure, she said yes to one of the first and biggest fashion show at Tollygunge club in Kolkata featuring the likes of Milind Soman and others of his ilk. So they now even have agencies, do advertising to “go with the new age business thoughts,” says the friendly Sushila Tikmany.

Must add here, that this old lady did all this alone previously as her husband was too occupied with his own business to help with her saris. So she looked after her family and household and managed her business, all single-handedly. To handle so many things efficiently, she saw to it that the business never shifted out of her home. It was only in 1996 that Pitambari opened its first branch and showroom in Malalaxmi in Mumbai and then in Delhi. The Kolkata showroom happened last and is still situated on the ground floor of their house. So besides saris, what you get are some homemade snacks and “daab pani” from fresh handpicked coconuts in the house.

She still believes that her customers are guests first and customers later. She offers them ayurveda tips on treating ailments and sound advice to the younger lot (sometimes upsetting them) about making their choices in men. With all her idiosyncrasies, she never fails to amaze you with either her attention, loud advice or her brilliant observation of designs and colours.

Sushila Tikmany has been felicitated by a number of social and business organisations for her strong business acumen and social work. She has lost her husband and son, yet you cannot miss the silent steely resolve to steer Pitambari to greater heights into exports. She doesn't understand PR and never romances the media.

To her, work should speak, nothing else. She is not wary of competition and likes to sponsor fashion awards for various fashion institutes, so that some more new names can come up and do wonders to the growing Indian garment industry. And before we wind up, she informs us with misty eyes that the Pitambari label is now 25 years old, her refugee women have all passed away and that she still lives her life for her 1,600 odd artisans and tailors who work for her from their homes in Howrah.

As told to Jeena Mitra Banik