HANDMADE .. A Journey Stitch - by - Stitch Harish Kumar

HANDMADE A Journey Stitch-by-Stitch HARISH KUMAR (28.09.1957)

Our belief in God turns into faith in God when we realize God ~ Nirankari Baba Hardev Singh Ji Maharaj

FORE WORD Harishji has been a leader and trendsetter in our industry and in many ways has shaped the branded ethnic wear market in India. I remember meeting him at stores, sharing notes on entrepreneurship and taking a lot of feedback on customers’ expectations and trends in ethnic wear market. His obsession with understanding the customer, his pioneering nature and hard work is something all of us have admired and learned from.

trends ahead of the curve and delight his customers.

He has consistently pushed the envelope and has been the trendsetter in the ever-growing ethnic wear industry. With Harishji’s mentorship and Avnish’s leadership, we are quite sure Neeru’s will scale new heights and set new standards for the industry to emulate. At Future Group, we are fortunate to have a partner like Harishji and look forward to working together for many, many years to come.

Neeru’s is an amazing example of how a brand can influence a particular region, dominate the market and go on to become a national brand. Among Harishji’s many strengths are his ability to pick up

KISHORE BIYANI

Kishore Biyani is an Indian businessman. He is the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Future Group and also the founder of retail businesses such as Pantaloon Retail and Big Bazaar.

FORE WORD Harishji has been a leader and trendsetter in our industry and in many ways has shaped the branded ethnic wear market in India. I remember meeting him at stores, sharing notes on entrepreneurship and taking a lot of feedback on customers’ expectations and trends in ethnic wear market. His obsession with understanding the customer, his pioneering nature and hard work is something all of us have admired and learned from.

trends ahead of the curve and delight his customers.

He has consistently pushed the envelope and has been the trendsetter in the ever-growing ethnic wear industry. With Harishji’s mentorship and Avnish’s leadership, we are quite sure Neeru’s will scale new heights and set new standards for the industry to emulate. At Future Group, we are fortunate to have a partner like Harishji and look forward to working together for many, many years to come.

Neeru’s is an amazing example of how a brand can influence a particular region, dominate the market and go on to become a national brand. Among Harishji’s many strengths are his ability to pick up

KISHORE BIYANI

Kishore Biyani is an Indian businessman. He is the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Future Group and also the founder of retail businesses such as Pantaloon Retail and Big Bazaar.

Life is not about finding yourself.

Life is about creating yourself.

raj bhalla

basant kaur & tilak raj kumar

amarjeet khanna rekha khurana

(2nd Feb 1933)

& Mohan Singh Bhalla

harish kumar & Neeru kumar

sangeeta vigg

ruchita kumar (29th Aug 1980)

romila wadhawan

anchal gupta Suchita Kumar (25th Jan 1983)

& Sandeep Ahuja

shammi aneja

pomila varma

(22nd May 1985)

(10th Nov 1984)

raaina kumar (28th Jan 2006)

(16th Mar 2014)

ruhani ahuja

(28th Mar 2009)

hunnar ahuja

(28th Dec 2011)

(12th July 1990)

& priya kumar (20th Dec 1989)

(4th Jan 1980)

Tanaira Gupta

anil bhalla

avnish kumar

& Sahil Gupta

Vedanya Gupta (3rd Apr 2018)

karun bhalla

CONTENTS

1

CHILDHOOD SAGA

2

walking the path

3

THE DAWN BR EAK S

4

INDUSTRY BENCHM AR K S

5

NEERU: THE WIND BENEATH THE WINGS

6

THE MEMOR IES WE M AKE WITH OUR FA MILY IS EVERY THING.

1

CHILDHOOD SAGA

A woman with a warrior spirit is tough to break. In dark nights of hopelessness, she transforms her tears into an everlasting chest of courage to fight and live another day. Next day, she rises with the break of dawn to bake the challenges of yesterday into a reality where she redefines her roads to possibilities.

She wins the war of life by taking the path of peace, trusting that her faith in a higher power will lead her across to happiness and prosperity. This is the story of one such soul and her remarkable son who built upon his mother’s teaching in bold strokes.

The mother who as a teenage girl known as Basant Kaur faced the full fury of the devastating impact of the Partition - the historical division of the Indian subcontinent into India and Pakistan. She and her family were living in pre-partition India. The household glittered with gold and silver. Luxury and abundance characterized every aspect of her life.

And in a few moments after Partition, it was all either given away or looted. When her family boarded

the truck carrying refugees to India, all she was left with was her faith in Nirankar, a formless God who is present in everyone. She was resolved to take life as it would come, and life was ready to take her on a roller coaster ride full of challenges and learnings.

Her brothers had moved to India in a more favourable time. They were able to buy a building from the Nizam’s relatives and convert it into a hotel. The Partition had shaken them too but they were able to find the ground under their feet. They made good money and were financially well off soon.

Basant Kaur wasn’t nearly as lucky. Her husband, Tilak Raj Kumar, started an eatery called Cafe Punjab upon arriving in Hyderabad. However, his altruistic nature did not allow him to run the business by sheer numbers. He was known for never refusing help to any needy person. The family still recalls stories of his having used the last bits of milk to prepare tea for those who needed it. This made Cafe Punjab a famous eatery but it never materialized into a financial success. Basant thus became the pivot that held the family together, both emotionally and financially.

Their son, Harish, was a child matured by the adversity he saw abound. In an atmosphere where most youngsters looked for quick ways to make money, twelve-year-old Harish was clear about working hard and building his own path. He skipped playing with his peers to help at the cafe every day.

He would go straight to the cafe from school to make and serve tea to the patrons - all so they could save on salaries to servers.

While Harish slogged at the cafe after school, his mother would add to that income by doing various odd jobs - buying plastic chappals from Delhi and selling them in Hyderabad, getting raw wool and knitting it into garments and teaching others to sew.

She even taught her son, Harish, to sew. Basant and her children were alone in this battle of survival. At first, she and her family lived in a chawl and later they moved to a modest building about a kilometre from the cafe.

This is how life went till that dreadful day of 1963 which brought with it the moment that defined Harish’s life and placed his mother as his role model forever. It was the day the floods came. As nausea-inducing brown-green water rose, it gulped everything in its way to satiate its never-ending thirst - homes, shops, warehouses, offices.

Basant Kaur was alone when the flood reached for her family. She had to save whatever little she had in the name of the household. The floodwaters weren’t receding; they kept coming at her. But giving up wasn’t in her nature. She was a woman with the spirit of a warrior. This was her home. No one and nothing would be allowed to destroy it. She was going to save everything she could. And she did. Clothes and rations had to be saved at all costs. She knew that.

She grabbed everything she could and piled it up on the bed. The higher the waters tried to reach, the more she piled things up as her youngest child looked on, safe out of the water’s greedy reach.

This was the battle Harish and his sister Rekha witnessed when they got home after wading through the flood waters. Their mother was piling up clothes and rations as high as they could go, while the youngest sister, Sangeeta, was tucked snug on a high platform put together by piling a few stools. Like a lifeline, a cousin came to help. He put the two smaller children on his shoulders and took them to higher ground, out of the reach of the advancing waters.

This was a lesson in understanding the diverse sides of human nature - while a relative risked his life to help, another one living on a higher floor in the same building did not even bother to check on them.

Basant didn’t bemoan her fate or curse those who left her there to fight alone. She just kept her faith in Nirankar alive and kept on fighting, saving whatever she could from the unending thirst of those waters.

Poverty meant that nothing was unimportant or disposable - everything had to be saved. The desperation arising out of never having enough and never knowing where the next meal would come from, can break almost anyone but not Harish’s mother. She didn’t get angry or frustrated, no matter the provocation. Instead, she dealt with everyone with love, patience, and calm. Always ready to fight before giving up, she went to her children’s school and convinced them to lower the tuition fee but ensure that their education continued.

Soon, the cafe went under and they were forced to explore other enterprises. This was when blood proved to be thicker than water - her brothers brought the family to their home. Harish’s parents tried their hand at other businesses such as raising poultry and even running a vineyard. But the poultry farm had to shut down since it wasn’t on their premises. The vineyard didn’t fare much better than the cafe under Harish’s father’s supervision. Basant was patient and stoic throughout this. She simply continued on her quest to make sure that her family’s life would be better. Not even the fates could stand against such determination. Basant finally started the work on her mothers’ old sewing machine, which had been lying unused at her brother’s place. The foundation for eventual success was soon laid in the form of Rekha House, a tailoring shop, establishing Basant as the first ladies tailor in Hyderabad in 1971.

When it came to cancer, Basant Kaur did not bow to this demon. Her sheer will did not let her body surrender to the insidious spread of the disease. When her radiation and chemotherapy started, Basant made sure her deadlines at the workshop didn’t suffer. No one, family or staff, expected her to work, but she felt cured and jubilant at the end of a hard day’s work. Seeing her daughter-inlaw immersed in the dream that Basant had birthed, gave her contentment and peace. She settled conflicts between staff and customers simply by listening to both sides with compassion and understanding. Her actions always spoke for her and made her an inspiration even for her grandchildren, who would turn to her for answers to life’s conundrums.

...adversity introduces a man to himself.

Abtabad Nava Shaheer

Dehradun

Hyderabad

In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.

2

walking the path

Success doesn’t come in a matter of moments, hours or even days. It takes the relentless grind of months and years. There are storms and pitfalls along the way that threaten to take one back to square one.

One can topple over in these storms or fall into the potholes that fate has in store. Success comes when one picks oneself up and toils on regardless. It is the sweat of our brow and the strength of our backs that fashion the building stones of eventual triumph. At that point, we can look at the marks scored into our skin and psyche throughout the years and know that they were worth it.

Harish learned these lessons quite early in life. The young boy, serving tea to the patrons at Cafe Punjab, knew that to make the place a success, they couldn’t afford overhead costs such as paying servers. While his friends were playing gully cricket and getting up to the usual shenanigans young boys do after school, Harish was perfecting the art of holding six glasses of tea in one hand without spilling a drop. Every day, once school was over, he would head straight to the cafe and start staring straight into the eyes of fate.

Harish was not a decision-maker at the cafe; he was only a young boy supporting his father relentlessly.

The cafe couldn't survive, leaving Harish and his mother, Basant, to explore other options to earn their keep. After venturing out and failing in a couple of businesses, Harish and his mother started an embroidery and tailoring business in 1971.

Harish spent hours on that sewing machine embroidering saris and other apparel and selling them to a local market. His hard work and creativity soon resulted in samples that took the fancy of the owners of the top ethnic shops in the city at the time and garnered more revenue. Harish still has the marks on his feet from the foot pedal of the machine, commemorating the 20 hours he spent on that machine nearly every single day.

Harish’s entrepreneurial mother knew that this was just the beginning. She could sense that there were other opportunities in the apparel market. That’s when the decision was made to bring all the skills and effort the mother-son duo were putting in under one roof. Rekha House was established on March 3rd, 1979. In this building, a section hosted the tailoring unit and workshop and the other section housed a retail outlet exclusively devoted to ladies dress wear.

Since Basant’s was the first ladies’ tailoring business

in the city, it wasn’t long before it became the hub for most women, establishing Rekha House as a household name in Hyderabad. It changed the culture of the city and opened a window of possibilities for women who depended on either male tailors or relatives and friends for stitching. Basant gave these women a comfort zone where they could express their choices and get the perfect fit. The clientele could get everything right from the selection of material to an exclusive design without any hesitation or having to commute between the emporium and the tailor. Together, the mother-son duo worked night and day to make certain that they achieved stability.

Upon hearing the renown of this dressmaking business, prominent Hyderabadi and film industry stalwarts started frequenting the establishment and soon became loyal customers. Bigwigs in the Telugu film industry would come with both personal and professional orders to the enterprise.

While Harish gave a tremendous amount of time and effort to the business, he ensured that the personal front received an equal amount of his attention. His mother had him as a helpmate both at work and at home. He shouldered the responsibility of ensuring that his sisters had everything he could give them at the time. He made sure that they completed their education and learned skills that could help them lead independent lives. The most amazing aspect was that Harish made everything seem effortless. He didn’t go about looking weighted down by responsibility. A man handling the pressure of a growing business and family responsibilities would have every right to be dour. Not Harish - he juggled all the balls in the air with faith in his heart and a smile on his lips. He never felt that work or home was a load that he had to carry. He wasn’t insouciant about either but neither did he consider them burdens to be hauled around.

To him, both were a part of life and Harish lived every bit as if there were no tomorrow. This was when

Harish’s personal life also started on a propitious trajectory. The life partner the fates arranged for him was Neeru, the one who would walk shoulder-toshoulder with him on his path. She accepted her new reality and took it on by the horns. After giving birth to her first child, she joined her mother-in-law in the workshop.

Around this time, Harish expanded the business under the name of Rekha Emporium. In partnership with a Mumbai-based wholesaler, Harish entered the wholesale cloth market. It seemed like the turning point they’d all been waiting for. Indeed, it was a turning point but with a twist.

The business partner turned out to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The cloth he placed at Rekha Emporium was sourced on credit. One evening, he simply disappeared without clearing the debt and left Harish holding the bag. Once again Harish’s life was a turbulent sea. What had started out so brightly had burned out before it could yield fruit. Decisions had to be made overnight.

One decision at that moment was to change the name from Rekha Emporium to Neeru Emporium. No one knew that it was the beginning of an era for the Indian ethnic industry. That night in 1980 would one day change the way the fashion industry perceived traditional wear.

While Harish and Neeru spent their lives making Neeru’s reach new heights, they never lost sight of the most important reason they were doing this - their four children. Everything the couple wanted to build up Neeru’s to be was for them.

They ensured that their kids had access to holistic education. In spite of their time-poor schedule, Harish and Neeru attended every parents’ and teachers’ meet. They planned holidays all over the world and encouraged their kids to expand their horizons. They wanted all four to know the value of hard work and insisted that they spend at least two hours during every school break working at the business. Their children grew up with a deep sense of security and belonging, knowing that they were their parents’ first priority.

Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground.

3

THE DAWN BREAKS

Changing the signboard of the shop was the first step of the beginning of Harish’s voyage. The route was unmapped, but the captain had inner faith that he was on the path, the one carved for him. The betrayal did not inject venom into the veins of his hopes and dreams. He believed in the rising sun after the long, dark night. Harish and Neeru decided to rise up and walk after every pitfall. Together they held hands to not break down when the storm winds blew.

They dusted themselves off after every stumble and kept walking. They were patient and they persevered to witness the breaking dawn.

Harish had learned this lesson of faith in oneself from his mother. He realized that the change shouldn’t stop with just the name - it should encompass the business. He knew that life gives you a couple of opportunities to change. His appetite for risk and creative approach opened an avenue not considered by anyone till that time. He was open to experiments and one such was his venturing into handloom suit pieces, his innovation in the Indian ethnic wear industry. He signed up with local weavers, designed patterns for them and became India’s first wholesaler for handloom suit pieces. There were a series of turning points which shaped Harish as a businessperson and Neeru’s as a brand.

Meanwhile, Neeru not only led the charge at the home front, but also took a lead role at the workshop, Rekha House, and created ensembles with nearly 100 employees. Giving birth or nursing did not come

in her way when the business needed her. She has even been back to the workshop after 10 days of delivering a baby. If Harish was soaring, he had a woman who was the wind beneath his wings.

Being a Delhi girl, Neeru knew and understood the wholesale markets of Chandni Chowk like the back of her hands. She expanded her workshop and wholesale business while sourcing cloth from Delhi and other cities. For 10 years, Neeru’s Textiles, dealing in wholesale textiles, became the name in the city of Hyderabad for vendors to meet their wholesale needs. At the same time, women would buy cloth from Neeru’s and then head straight to Rekha House to get it stitched. Both the wheels of the business side by side, collaborating just like Harish and Neeru.

Trends are fickle things and in the world of fashion, trends change at the drop of a hat. After a decade, many weavers had started selling directly to vendors.

The wholesale was not as novel and as prosperous as it had once been. Change is inevitable and with his customary sharpness, Harish realized that it was time for Neeru Emporium to transform.

Harish started to diversify from wholesale and proceeded towards fashion retail - a pond in which he hadn’t yet dipped a toe. Harish being Harish has never believed in doing anything half-heartedly, be it at work or at home. Readymade was the next course Harish charted. He made sure that the designs at

his store were attractive, trendy and unique. He also had clarity about marketing these designs in the right space and time. Harish and Neeru both knew how to win hearts when it came to customer relations.

The stories of their commitment to their customers and brand enchanted the city of Nizams.

It became the talk of the town when Harish transformed his 400 square feet Neeru Emporium into the 5000 square feet Neeru’s. Neeru’s wasn’t just a recognized brand anymore, it was a fairly exclusive one. There was only one way to go from here - up. Harish worked relentlessly on every aspect of the business. He recognized the importance of branding at a time when branding wasn’t even a buzzword in the Hyderabad retail lexicon. When the store was being set up, he involved himself in every aspect. He brainstormed with the architect on the store design and interiors for a year. He worked closely with the ad agency to design the Neeru’s logo

with an eye to the future. Today no matter what is in vogue, the logo has remained contemporary. He carefully carved every word and image of the brand that would be used to interact with the world. This meant his close attention to the appearance of the shop in advertisements that would go out. He coined lines for his brands such as ‘NRI preferred stores’ or ‘NRIs’ first destination’ to ensure the brand stood out. He even focused on something as innocuous as the design and quality of the carry bags. He knew that the bags would not only accompany customers on the trip home but would also go places and represent the brand. At a time when retail stores weren’t too concerned with advertising or branding, Harish ensured that Neeru’s would be a name people remembered for the quality and beauty of not just its clothes but the overall experience.

The grit and determination that drive such success deserve expansion. As the brand’s popularity grew, more people clamoured for its unique creations.

Harish knew that the outlets were here to multiply and grow geographically. The timing matched with Harish’s eldest daughter willing to open and lead another outlet. It was time to set forth. The next destination was a chain of exclusive stores that would showcase the ethnic creativity that Neeru’s offered and dazzle customers old and new. It was the curtain raiser for the beginning of an era - an era of fashion for the ethnic wear industry and a chapter of contentment for Harish and his family.

The boy who had learnt to hold six glasses of tea in one hand has become the man who has written his destiny with the same hand. The family that had lived in a house with a leaky roof now lives in comfort.

The things that have remained constant for Harish and his family are humility, compassion and their faith in Nirankar.

When Neeru’s started scaling new peaks, a staff member had occassion to visit the home of one of the weavers who had worked with Harish in the beginning of Neeru’s rise. The weaver extended his hospitality and cordially invited the staff member into his home.

What the staff member saw inside the house stunned him. In the puja ghar (the altar), along with idols and images of gods and godesses sat Harish’s photograph. The weaver explained that this wasn’t the only household that revered and worshipped Harish; it was common practice in many other households in the area. The community attributed its prosperity to the bargain it had struck with Harish and the new weaving techniques he taught them.

Even after so many years, Harish was considered a god amongst men to these hardworking folk.

Harish Kumar, Off-Record!

Harish is a man of many facets and faces. However, the underlying core is based on one philosophy - with love in the heart and faith in Nirankar, anything can be achieved. It is a maxim that he applies to himself, his marriage and his family equally. While raising three daughters and a son, Harish never considered gender while setting expectations. He expected all his children to understand the value of an independent, self-made life. All four children have spent their vacations interning at Neeru’s and are knee-deep into the quintessence of the business. They have learnt and lead all aspects of business, be it business development or customer relationships. Harish valued the time he spent with his family and as his business prospered, he endeavoured to share that prosperity with them.

He made sure Sundays were for his family. He took his children on trips abroad, not just as a retreat, but to help them to understand and appreciate the diversity the world has to offer. He encouraged them to read up on the places they were going to visit and comprehend them a tad deeper than ordinary tourists would. When it came to Neeru, Harish practised and expressed equality and admiration for her contribution in business and life. After their wedding, the couple worked in tandem to use their complementary skills to advance the business. They were partners in every way, at home and at work, setting couple goals for people around

them. Even today, Harish and Neeru’s love for each other leaves tales to inspire. One such occasion was a Valentine’s Day surprise Harish planned for Neeru.

It was the epitome of enchantment and charm. After taking Neeru on an hour-long, deliberately unsuccessful quest to dine outside, Harish took her back home to a scene redolent with allure. Torch-lit paths, a swimming pool full of heart-shaped balloons and a lovely dinner accompanied by soft music - Harish spared no effort in showing Neeru how special she was to him. When it came to himself, Harish found repose in cinema.

His passion for films is boundless and he embraced whatever came his way, whether a Hollywood blockbuster or a Bollywood paisa vasool film. He has actually seen Jawaani Deewani, his favourite film, 25 times! Visits to cinema halls also meant that he could keep up with the latest fashion trends Bollywood offered. Late-night Hollywood movies meant brushing up his English communication skills. Today, Harish has incorporated the flamboyance of the movies into his own personal style. At any function that involves music and dancing one can see a gentleman dressed with flair and dancing to Bollywood numbers with vigour and enthusiasm that rivals that of much younger dancers.

Life’s true gift lies in your freedom to design it beautifully.

With each rising of the sun, you get to chase the opportunity to fill your days with meaning - to live your life the way you choose.

4

SETTING INDUSTRY BENCHM ARKS

Harish has always seen the challenges around him as opportunities. In striving to become a better version of himself, he has always raised his own bar to meet his expectations. He often says, “The only things you have in control is you, yourself. Expect the best from yourself and work relentlessly on every moment your way.” He has been able to stay centred and retain his intuition because he never fails to reflect on his actions. This has kept his thoughts fresh like morning dew, making him set many industry benchmarks.

Though some are not documented officially, the doyens of the industry in Hyderabad have always been in the know about his contributions to Indian fashion.

Even before Neeru’s became a leading name in the Indian ethnic fashion industry, it has been the centre point of many firsts in the fashion and textile industry. His acumen for business and quick decision-making has taken brand Neeru’s places.

One such window opened for him in 1983 in the form of a weaver who wanted to place his loomwoven product, lungis, through Harish’s shop. The weaver changed Harish’s life. He came at a time when Harish was selling cloth pieces in his store.

While talking to him, Harish held on to the cloth and kept rubbing it between his fingers. As he became aware of the texture, he instantly came up with the idea of handloom suit pieces. He proposed to the weaver that he weave these pieces for Harish.

The weaver had not heard of this concept, nor had anyone in the fashion industry. What were handloom

suit pieces? Everyone knew that you got suit pieces that had been sourced from places such as Delhi and Bombay. You then went to the best tailor in town and had them stitched. You didn’t have them woven by local weavers. However, Harish was determined to explore this idea. He knew it had the potential to flourish. For the pilot, he took a train that very night and accompanied the weaver to his village.

He designed the weave pattern and guided the weaver on where to weave which pattern on a single suit piece. After the first few samples, Harish was ready to embark upon this new venture. He started reaching out to other weavers all over the region and convinced them to expand their repertoire from weaving saris to weaving salwar suit pieces as well.

He continued travelling to the remotest locations, sometimes without a train reservation, sleeping near the bathroom door to with weavers. He started from scratch with these artisans, helping them learn new weaving techniques. He would sleep under their roof and relish simple meals of rice, ghee and red chillies.

His tenacity paid off. Handloom suit pieces took off in a big way and became a fashion trend. He started selling the suit pieces wholesale. Soon Harish had prominent designers clamouring for his material and in the process, handloom got reinvented for the Indian ethnic fashion industry. Harish’s vision for innovation gave the gift of crisp confidence and panache to the humble handloom. No longer was handloom marked as the cloth of an underserved class but as chic wear for women of diverse backgrounds. Another example of business acumen

on display, in this case, was the way he sourced yarn, dying and weaving and from three different sources.

This gave him the power of monopoly in the market and a clear field to play in the long-term. To ensure that the secret of the yarns he produced remained a secret, Harish even had the products delivered using a variety of methods to different addresses so his competitors couldn’t track where it was coming from.

The wholesale business prospered for the next 10 years, but Harish wasn’t someone who could be stagnant; he constantly innovated. At the same time, weavers had started contacting vendors directly and the wholesale market wouldn’t be as profitable as it had been once. Harish read the winds of change accurately. It was time to diversify. It was time to move to the next logical destination and that destination was retail.

Harish immediately recognized a golden chance in the ethnic retail market. When he decided to move into that field, he knew that he wasn’t going to give it anything less than his best. He would leave benchmarks here, just as he had with handlooms.

With his customary confidence and savoir-faire, he decided that it was time to introduce salwar suits to South India.

Until this time, salwar suits had mostly been donned by a smaller section of women in and around Hyderabad. However, with Bollywood ruling Indian fashion, salwar suits started dominating the ethnic wear scene amongst women of all ages. Harish’s

ability to foresee the trends of the future now really came to the fore. He would go and watch nearly 45 movies a month, not just because he loved movies but because he wanted to be able to predict what fashions would catch the public’s fancy next. His predictions were nearly always spot on. He made sure that when his customers visited him after Friday Bollywood releases, he was ready with the latest.

Staying true to his nature, Harish ventured into new territory again and played another big shot.

Diversification was the name of the game. He turned his attention to sari blouses. Until then, two by two blouses had been the established paradigm. They went with all sorts of saris and, therefore, were what women could find in ethnic wear shops. Harish went out of the box. He wondered - if there could be handloom salwar suits, then why not handloom blouse pieces? Why not add borders to the blouses, play around with the designs and more? He did all that and like his previous ideas, this one took off and went soaring. While Neeru’s cachet was soaring, Harish was considering the brand itself. His trip to the US had taught him the value of branding. While there, he noticed that if a store owner opened a sister store over there, the name of the store remained the same. This way, regardless of which part of the city they were in, customers recognized the brand.

In and around Hyderabad, this practice had yet to catch on. Most stores would change the name at least a little when they opened a second premise. Not only did Harish learn about the stores, but the entire

TO BE REPLACED BY NEERU'S TEAM

treatment around branding. From ad campaigns to photoshoots, from carrybags to mannequins he didn’t just absorb lessons on branding; he came back and implemented those lessons for Neeru’s in Hyderabad, Harish was the first to retain the brand name when he opened the doors of his second outlet. He simply called it Neeru’s. He continued this for every new store he opened and his vision paid him in establishing the brand Neeru’s is today.

Today, Neeru’s presence in every heart in the Deccan can be credited to Harish’s understanding of his women customers’ wishes and whims when it comes to dressing up. From silk sarees, designer embroidery sarees, traditional to different silhouette, half sarees, lehengas, salwar suits, both ready-towear and unstitched, tunics, mixes and matches from top Indian designer labels to in-house labels, Neeru’s showrooms have something for everyone who steps into its world. The brand’s USP is to give the best in fashion at a reasonable price tag. Because of customer demand, Neeru's has recently launched ethnic menswear and kids’ ethnic wear along with and fashion jewellery and accessories.

When it comes to standing out, Harish’s experiment has made Neeru’s scale and become memorable for everyone who has crossed its threshold. The long-timers in the city remember everything from Basant’s skill with a sewing machine to the mannequin who greeted every customer with a salaam to the grand opening of the Banjara Hills store which went viral overnight.

Harish believes that India’s heart lies in lanes and nukkads when it comes to ethnic wear. Even in the age of malls, no Indian wedding is complete without visiting those old shops that generations have been going to. In resonance with this sentiment, when Harish first considered expansion, he chose exclusive locations that are intersections of residential and shopping districts. This also echoes with Harish’s character; staying away from the crowd and carving a unique identity for himself. The ambience of Neeru’s stores radiates opulence and a larger-than-life aura and the bonding the customers share with Harish and Neeru conveys real-life warmth. Customers who have stayed loyal to the brand since Rekha House, still kiss Neeru’s hands and are possessive about what they consider ‘their’ store.

While Harish was connecting at grassroots levels with weavers across the region for the supply, he also focused on the marketing aspect. To achieve apparel sales, he needed to showcase the designs. Fashion shows would surround the garments in glitz and glamour. He took that route enthusiastically and focused a spotlight on Neeru’s.

Gratitude in the space of competition Harish’s fingers would swell up and sometimes bleed after working tirelessly on embroidery designs. His brain would constantly weave patterns which his fingers would turn into reality. Once the sample was ready, he would line up outside a big clothing brand in the city along with other artisans to show his work in the hopes of selling it that day. Meeting the Seth depended upon who had favour with the staff in charge of ushering the artisans in. Harish would have to wait longer than his counterparts. This often meant that Harish was in the queue for hours before he got the chance to present his work. Once he did get in, however, he would immediately catch the attention of the owner, Kishen Seth, whose face would light upon seeing Harish The Seth always found Harish’s work promising. He wouldn’t fail to mention that Harish had a charismatic personality and understood the pulse of the market.

The Seth ’s parting line to Harish would always be, “You will become a big name someday.” Mentors can play a great role in finding hope within oneself. These meetings kept Harish’s quest for perfection in whatever he did alive. The next 15 years from here were about

establishing many firsts in India’s ready-to-wear industry.

He proved his mentor's words right and became the name everyone would look up to in the ethnic fashion industry.

The world also started viewing his mentor's brand as his competitor. Fast forward, and it was the launch evening of the Jubilee Hills showroom Harish’s employees were flummoxed. A competitor had walked into their function without so much as a by-your leave! What happened next, however, baffled them even more. Harish walked up to this “competitor” and touched his feet. This “competitor” was none other than Harish’s mentor Kishen Seth. The gratitude in Harish’s heart shone brighter than the spark of competition. Neither Struggle not Success have turned Harish bitter or bumptious. Amidst the fast-moving journey, when most would want to grow at any cost, Harish displayed his integrity by not poaching any artisans, however brilliant, from his mentor’s establishment. It was an unsaid dictum to not cause any detriment to the man who Harish considered his godfather. His grateful heart beats first for relationships which have held space for him when he was a nonentity.

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Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit” ~ Neeta Lulla

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Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit” ~ Jaya Prada

“Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit” ~ Pinky Reddy

“Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit” ~ Sonam Kapoor

“Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit” ~ Karisma Kapoor

Bengaluru Fashion Week

Dubai India Fashion Week

Indian Army Fashion Show

Wedding Vows Fashion Show

In-store Fashion Show

Falaknuma Palace Art Fashion Show (social cause) fund rasing

NOIDA DELHI

GURUGRAM

LUCKNOW

KANPUR

RAIPUR

NIZAMABAD

MUMBAI DUBAI

PUNE HYDERABAD

VIJAYAWADA VIZAG RAJAHMUNDRY

GUNTUR NIZAMABAD TIRUPATI BENGALURU

CHENNAI

THIRUVANTHAPURAM

f

footprint

The night of the opening of Neeru’s Emporio was an Event in Hyderabad. Hundreds turned out to see the grand store whose history was so intertwined with the city.

Hyderabad took pride that evening in seeing the zenith that this homegrown brand had achieved.

Walking into Neeru’s Emporio, one is greeted by palatial magnificence. The air of regality is everywhere from the grand staircase to the gorgeous apparel.

However, its roots and the road travelled can be seen clearly on the history wall detailing the journey. The designs here are anchored in the past but clearly echo the contemporary.

Quietly lifting people up Some people find joy in doing good for others. Some look upon it as a duty. For Harish, it is his way of expressing gratitude to the universe for offering support. His colleagues, friends, and family have numerous anecdotes of Harish’s benevolence. Though Harish never shares these deeds himself, these tales find their way back to his world. Once, when Harish was leaving the hospital after a checkup, he ran into an acquaintance whose daughter was admitted for a life-threatening condition. During the conversation, the acquaintance mentioned the amount it would cost for her hospitalization. At a time when Harish was faced with harsh truths about his own health, he had the mindspace to feel the pain and anxiety in another’s heart. In the middle of his own checkups, Harish asked his son, Avnish, to go and settle the bill for that gentleman.

Avnish knew his father’s way of staying invisible while offering help and never mentioned it to another family member. The other members stumbled upon this when the acquaintance met them again and mentioned this kind act.

His staff tells heartwarming tales of Harish’s generosity - of children’s weddings paid for, school fees taken care of, the burden of medical bills removed, clothes commissioned for families during festival season and more. He also didn’t believe in bringing in outside talent when he had plenty of

loyal and talented staff who had been with him since the beginning. He ensured that deserving staff members were rewarded with promotions and rose through the ranks.

Harish’s sisters Rekha and Sangeeta often say that they feel more as though they’re his daughters than his sisters; they feel that they are an integral part of his life. When the youngest sister, Rama, was getting married, Harish pulled out all the stops in his quest to make sure that he would be able to give her the wedding of her dreams, something he hadn’t been able to do for his other sisters earlier because of their financial circumstances. The biggest and most striking aspect of what Harish does for others is his silence about what he does and who he helps. Neeru, his life partner, says that it’s almost as though he doesn’t let his left hand know what his right hand is doing. She herself doesn’t mind being in the dark when it comes to these deeds because she knows that it is all about putting goodwill out into the universe.

The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.

5

NEERU:

THE WIND BENEATH THE WINGS

It seems my life has marched to the beat of a different drum. When Harishji’s marriage proposal first came, I did not know I would be jumping the queue and hearing wedding bells before my elder siblings. My mother was smitten by Harishji’s charm.

It was she who resolved upon me as a match for him.

My father, though, was not in favour of sending the youngest slice of his soul to a faraway land called Hyderabad. After all, I was the baby of the family.

My father worked in a private firm and we lived a comfortable life. Our house was in a semi-posh neighbourhood and we were favoured with the good fortune of education, food and fun in our daily lives.

I was the girl next door, always ready with a smartaleck reply, not hesitant to speak my mind. I lived in the moment and revelled in the familiar.

That familiar altered into the unknown on 13th October 1979. Marriage joined my fate with Harishji’s and my life took a turn that I had never imagined.

I wasn’t prepared for what I found when I stepped across the threshold of my sasuraal for the first time.

Harishji and his parents were renting a portion of the servants’ quarters on the property of one of the Nizam’s daughters. It was a tiny place, with two rooms, a minuscule dining room, a bathroom and a kitchen. The roof would leak during the rainy season and the area outside the house was unpaved.

I decided to accept my new life and family as it was.

Growing up in the Nirankari faith had given me the

resilience to not only adapt but also to immerse myself in my new circumstances. I didn’t share any of the challenges that came my way with my parents.

When my mother and sister came down for a visit, they were taken aback. My mother wanted to know why I hadn’t mentioned a word of my struggles. I asked, “Would it have solved anything? What could you have done? This was my life.” In return, my mom with affection in her voice, asked me, “ When did my little girl become so mature?” I knew I had to keep looking ahead.

Harishji’s love and treatment of me as an equal partner softened the knots of hardships and privation. When I saw him putting his all into the business, including any profits that he made from it, it made me realise that it had to be all hands on deck. I couldn’t just be a traditional bahu, confining my role to the kitchen and the household. I had to become part of the effort. Six months after my first child was born, I joined Harishji and my mother-in-law in taking care of the business.

I started helping my mother-in-law manage Rekha House. Her acceptance for mistakes and my enthusiasm to learn showed me the ropes. I was found at the workshop on the day of my delivery as well as within a mere 10 days of it, chasing deadlines and handling multiple orders during Ramzan. I would go home every two hours to breastfeed my baby and then come back. In a few years, I started staying back late at the workshop while my in-laws started coming

home early to take care of the children. When a sudden decision was made to change the store’s name, my mother-in-law suggested that it should be after my name - Neeru. It was heartwarming to find complete acceptance, trust and love in the family.

Since then, the three of us became a team, playing off each other’s strengths. We held different forts of the business and grew together. The growth of our business didn’t allow Harishji the time to tend to all its aspects. Like an incisive leader, Harishji recognized that my strengths lay in my ability to communicate and relate to others on a personal and professional level. I started working with our sales team to make the retail experience better for our buyers. I learnt the finer points of building customer relationships. I understood their psyche and I spent time with them to show them their value to us.

Using empathy and my growing business acumen helped me understand our customers’ psyche. It enabled me to show our customers how much they meant to us. Their belief in their value to us became an important aspect of our brand value. It has enriched us with a global clientele which has remained loyal to our brand for over four decades.

The bond I share with some of our customers has added meaning to my life manyfold. While I was on this learning curve, my design skills opened a window into visual merchandising. It helped my team showcase our products so that they were headturners and resulted in better footfalls and sales. It wasn’t long before I expanded my scope of work and

started handling wholesale purchases. At one point, I was in charge of all the purchases from northern India. I didn’t realize how intrepid I’d become until I found myself sitting all alone in a vendor’s shop in Delhi at 3 am, picking out the best bolts of cloth and haggling over the price. I was able to build good vendor relationships that lasted. In fact, this became a regular feature of my buying trips to the city, causing Harishji much concern about my safety. He would get worried and advise me not to be at the vendors’ so late. However, I was so enthralled with getting the best deal for our business that I would tell him that I was at the hotel when I was still sitting at the vendors. It was a heady feeling. As I learned and grew in the business, I wanted to explore new horizons.

Around 2008, my desire to create was sealed by the Universe. Harishji, Avnish and I were walking through one of our warehouses when Harishji shared the availability of unused stock. This is when my designer heart pumped an idea into my entrepreneurial head and the Neeru Kumar label was born. Standalone kurtis weren’t the fashion statement they are today,

but I could see the potential. I revived the lost charm of kurtis. My designs are quirky yet trendy, avantegarde yet evergreen and my customers graceful yet unconventional. When it comes to designing the trousseaus for elite weddings, my team counts on me for outstanding designs and customer satisfaction. I have spent almost five decades of my life nurturing the Neeru’s brand. These years have taught me as much about myself as they have about running and managing a business. Who knew that I would be capable of learning things that I’d given up on in childhood? I used to be very bad at maths as a child.

Today, I can do whatever calculation you ask me to do mentally and the results are quick and accurate.

I’ve also become someone who knows the value of each and every paisa. I learnt to save money in the early years of my marriage and haven’t really changed since then. I don’t spend a lot, if anything, on myself - something that always niggles at Harishji.

He constantly exhorts me to indulge and spend some money on things that I like. I point out to him that unlike other husbands he doesn’t have to worry about a wife who is a spendthrift. (laughs).

Long ago, a family guru said that I would bring prosperity to my mayka and my sasuraal. With time I realised prosperity is a quest for our best self. My thoughts resonate with Harishji when it comes to believing in one’s inner power and potential. If I had to relive my life over again, there is nothing that I would change. The lessons I learnt on the way have given my life meaning and immense joy.

In Delhi, my dinner time was eight.

However, dinner was around midnight in my new life in Hyderabad. My husband and in-laws would be at the workshop or the shop wrapping up work till midnight.

I wasn’t used to staying up that late.

I would cook dinner and go to sleep.

When they would return, I would get up and heat up the dinner for them.

Soon my cooking for family expanded to large scale cooking. It didn’t take me long to realize that the tailors we employed were working long days and needed proper sustenance to keep going.

So I decided that we needed to provide them with proper meals. To ensure they were fed properly, I started cooking for them. Soon, I was cooking for around 30 to 40 people every day. If the food got over, I would cook for them twice. Today, when I look back, I wonder where I got so much energy to pull this off on a daily basis.

I thank God for giving us children who have shown much wisdom throughout. It would have been so easy for them to be distant from Harishji and me or resent us because we spent so much time working. Fortunately for us, right from childhood, all four of them were mature enough to understand that whatever we were doing was for them. Since they’ve always seen us as partners working together, they are

equally close to both Harishji and me. They come to either of us with whatever concerns they have, secure in the knowledge that they will receive good advice from both of us. Today, all our children are independent and know how to value the work that goes into turning sweat into success while staying humble.

Harishji liked watching movies, especially Hollywood movies. I, on the other hand, did not enjoy them at all. In our early days, we would always go for a late show after work. Unfortunately, I wasn’t used to staying up that late and to top it off I had no interest in the movie. I would always fall asleep during the show. During the interval, when Harishji asked what I thought of the movie so far, I would tell him that it was great (laughs). Then I would sleep through the second half. Afterwards, he would ask me what I thought of the film and I would again tell him it was good. I would even fall asleep on his bike while returning home! (laughs uproariously)

ONE M AN, M ANY MOODS

REPEATED

In this bright future you can’t forget your past.

6

VISION:

FLY AS HIGH AS YOU WANT TO BUT DON’T FORGET WHERE YOU COME FROM.

Minding the Past to Shape the Future Fly as high as you want to but don’t forget where you come from. I have heard our founder Harish Kumar often quote these lines. This is the core of who we are as a family and brand.

I have seen my parents as partners, nurturing their aspirations with their sweat, blood and tears to make something good of their company. My sisters and I grew up listening to our parent’s stories about the struggle the family faced to become financially secure and to make Neeru’s a success.

These stories inspired me to excel in studies and I became a topper at school. However, where other fathers would have been impressed, mine, while proud, was also worried - what if his son became focused on academic knowledge and didn’t learn the important life lessons? When I was in the seventh grade, he sent me to another school, known for its holistic approach to education. Hindsight is 20/20, and I soon realized that my father was sowing the first seeds of a plan - a plan to invest in his vision for his son. In fact, today I tell Harishji that the best investment he has made has been in me. He has given me tools to effectively face down challenges we encounter in business and in life.

When I joined Neeru’s officially after B-School, I was taking the usual route of numbers and logic.

However, for my father, his intuitive wisdom was the guiding light in how he operated his business. I closely observed the traits that made my father a stalwart of the industry. He was far ahead of his time, a Nostradamus in the ethnic fashion world. He believed in creating new paradigms, becoming the trendsetter in whatever he did. I realised that I had to unlearn what my degree had taught me and imbue myself with the practical.

My first assignment for Neeru’s was at the age of three, walking the ramp wrapped in handloom cloth pieces, to showcase our brand. As I grew older, my father started taking me to his interactions with weavers. It even became a small father-son thing, where we would go wherever the train took us; each new destination became a surprise. However, my first break at Neeru’s was in 2012, when we opened our Jubilee Hills store. Believing in my ideas and execution, Harishji put me in charge of the launch.

The construction of the store was kept secret by an ingenious means - we simply didn’t put up the Neeru’s sign until the day before the launch. The unveiling was held at midnight, the news about the scale of the event going viral in Hyderabad. The first of its kind in the region, the store isn’t merely a small clothing shop; instead, it is built on the scale of a Harrod’s.

Now while leading the brand, I go back to the founding principles my father has embodied. When it comes to customers, we make sure that they feel exclusive and are treated like kings and queens.

This concept is followed at each store, regardless of location. When it comes to our team, we share a familial bond with each of them, retaining our first hire to this date.

My vision for the future is twofold - increasing Neeru’s international footprint and retaining its core values while expanding. We’ve already opened a flagship store in Dubai. The plan now is to expand into the American market. Every Neeru’s outlet will hold up to the values and strategies that Harish Kumar has created. Our foundation has been laid in humility and compassion. They are why we have been able to build generational relationships with our customers and why our customers feel that we belong to them. No matter how high we go and how far we expand, these traits will always be the cornerstones of Neeru’s success. We will never forget where we have come from.

THE MEMORIES WE M AKE WITH OUR FAMILY ARE EVERY THING.

MY BEQUEST

Work like a labourer; live like a king.

This has been the mantra that I’ve tried to live my life by. Whether serving tea as a young boy at my father’s eatery or building the Neeru’s brand, I’ve followed this philosophy throughout. Work as hard as you can to earn every inch of your fortune and also remember to relish the fruits of your hard work.

Use the resources you have created to facilitate joy in lives around you.

Considering my circumstances, the odds were stacked against me; I had a higher chance of stumbling and falling than breaking through any barriers. You too will face obstacles, many of them so huge that they might even temporarily defeat you.

But if you have a fire in your gut, a zeal to do better - be better - you will pick yourself up, dust the failure off and keep moving forward. No matter what hurdles are piled up against you, you will conquer them and achieve what you want to. If I have, you can too.

Along my journey, I never felt alone. There were hands along the way that lifted me up and boosted my inner strength. There were eyes that saw that spark inside me and words that fanned it into my flame. In this trek, every fellow traveller mattered.

There were those who inspired and those who got inspired by me, walking ahead or behind me, leading me or pushing me. Most importantly, there were those who walked with me shoulder-to-shoulder and made my journey their own. I kept going within to check that my confidence didn’t turn into pride and come in the way of accepting this gift of kindness.

Like everyone, I couldn’t edit my circumstances but I could craft my responses to them. I chose to give my best. I did not concern myself with the outcome, I just kept putting my best version on the line. I had faith that I would be taken care of by the Universe.

Not forgetting my days of penury, when I would work hard to reward myself with something as simple as a soft drink, has helped me stay in the realm of reality.

It has kept me in tune with my inner self. I have been able to instil the quality of compassion and humility in my children and the people around me.

I believe in lifting up others as one lifts oneself. You are the wave that lifts all boats on its crest.

I live to tell stories that kindle the human spirit. Harish Ji's story is a vivid life-travelogue with massive ups and downs. Its core presents the possibilities that a human being full of hope can unfold. My first meeting with Harishji and his family was transformative. Their story reeled me in, and I set myself on the mission to get the story out. They didn’t shy away from diving deep with me into their history - the good times and the struggles alike. This book was Harishji’s dream project. I am fortunate to put this inspirational story out into the world. The story inspired me immensely at a phase in my life when I was plagued by doubt.

I hope it will do the same for the readers as they gasp and sigh, laugh and cry, and experience a well-lived life of a grand yet humble man.

Vatsala Shrivastava www.vatsala.in

In collaboration with Rivet Design Studio www.rivetdesign.in