Dhruv, a friend recently told me that I am probably not understanding the need to marry someone for companionship if I am not in love-love with them is because I have Bittu.
Anushree is Bittu, my sister, co-founder, Kissa-goi, also same parents to complain about or secretly be proud of, same brother to nag, miss and be jealous of for being the favourite child. Same karigars, same tailors, same weavers, same photographers, same interns, and to a good extent, same friends too.
He was not wrong. Anushree has always maintained that love is love. To a friend, to a parent, to a lover, to a brother, cousins and in our case, sister. In a kiss from a lover, the 67th interrogation about the last meal or the next one from a mother, a check-in call from a sister, a late-late-night pick up by a father. Love is love.
While I understood and agreed with what it meant intellectually, I realised late that it needn't only be your lover to get you two glasses of a local chocolate drink (we call it Coco in Surat) for your birthday because you don’t care so much for a cake. That it won’t only be on your lover again to book you a month of pottery class or tell you when you smell funny so that you don’t in public. The last run through before I go anywhere significant is never in front of a mirror. I have Bittu.
And then, it took another kind then-stranger, now-friend Pooja to beautifully conceptualise our new jewellery launch with our story. The same thing our mother has been telling us since we were kids. ‘Tere bina bane koni, tere sang sare koni’- can’t do with, can’t do without. Today, we share it to you. The soul of Kissa, Ruh, our jewellery page with a new collection
Why today? Because its Anushri’s birthday. Because not unlike Ruh, she is the soul of our family and Kissa-goi too. Normally she is the one handling key aspects of social media, so hopefully I don’t screw this up too bad.
I learn late. It is a pattern with me and most important things in life but our threads and stitches have taught us that it's never too late to mend. I can’t say so I write. Happy birthday! Absolutely can’t do without you. I love you Bittu
