JAYA PODDAR

With a penchant for art and creativity, Jaya, has been putting her heart at the right place since her good old childhood days. Be it knitting or stitching, singing or painting she has not just done it all, but also mastered each of them with great flair and finesse. But life comes with its own challenges. Amidst juggling the duties as a wife and mother, her passions momentarily took a backseat, although she continued her lessons in weaving, crochet, embroidery, macramé, batik, bandhani and participating in several art and craft exhibitions.

Gradually, Jaya started painting sarees on her free afternoons once again, and it was then that she first nurtured the dream of channelizing her creativity into something more vivid and meaningful, something that would align her passion with a purpose, something that would allow her to touch the lives of people and make a difference, however small or big. The best part is, she did not leave that dream to be buried under a ‘what if’, filled with regret. She chose to give it a shape and make it come alive. And that is precisely how Amrapali was born.

After a successful stint of running a make-shift store at home for a couple of years, at the age of fifty-two, Jaya finally opened the doors to her very own brick and mortar retail store – Amrapali Boutique, with the encouragement and support from her loved ones and well-wishers; but mostly with her own courage and self-belief. She is an inspiration to many, reiterating the fact in the truest sense, that it's never too late to pursue your dreams.