Northeast India is an amalgamation of rich tradition and heritage. Each region is unique in its own way, connected by a thread of strong cultural values. Dresses worn by the natives of this region are known for their unique use of colours and designs. What sets apart a creative person from the rest is the fusion of these varied designs and creating a beauty out of it.
Kabita Baruah Medhi, who hails from Morigaon district of Assam, is a fashion designer by profession. She is the first Assamese woman to have opened up a boutique shop, Mili’s Choice, in the picturesque town of Shillong in 2014.
Despite professional success in garnering her client’s love towards her work, Kabita likes to keep it simple. For her, designing is passion rather than a profession.
Humble Start:
It has been rightly said the best knowledge starts from home. Kabita’s mother, Minu Baruah, is an expert weaver of Assamese garments. After her matriculation, Kabita started giving a helping hand to her mother in her work. This was her first tryst with weaving. Later, when she completed her Master’s in Philosophy, Kabita got deeply involved with the process of designing and weaving. “My mother was my backbone and continues to be one while I shifted my lanes from a student of Philosophy to an amateur designer,” Kabita said.
Kabita got married to Dr BN Medhi in 1997. Her second innings was a crucial juncture in shaping her ideas and creativity into a proper dimension.
Shillong Phase:
Kabita shifted to Shillong with her husband in the summer of 1998. The idea of settling down in an entirely new place and getting accustomed to a new culture intimidated the family. While her husband started his job at the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS), Kabita took control of their new home.
After the birth of their first baby, she went on to do a course in Fashion Designing from Sikkim Manipal University. After that, there was no looking back.
Kabita registered herself as an authorised designer of Silk Mark of India and immediately set up a handloom at the famed town of Sualkuchi. For the next couple of years, Kabita dedicated herself to understanding the amazing motifs of Khasi, Jaintias and Garos. She started working on the Khasi’s ‘Dhara’— a special dress worn by the Khasi women mostly during weddings, woven on the fine silk of Sualkuchi.
She constantly juggles her home in Shillong and her loom centre in Sualkuchi till this day to keep a tab on the work done by the weavers.
Kabita helped her mother in setting up another two handlooms in Morigaon and Sualkuchi, respectively. At present, four weavers are now working in four of her handlooms in both of these places. Kabita is very selective in choosing her weavers and place abundant trust on them, who she considers as extended members of her family.
Her trust is now bearing fruit as one of her main weavers, Anu Rajbongshi, will be conferred with the Purvashree Award of 2018 for her immense perseverance and dedication in the field of weaving.
Setting up Shop:
By 2012, Kabita felt an immediate need for a dedicated outlet where she can listen to and meet the needs of her growing clientele, especially the locals. By this time, her husband had left his job at NEIGRIHMS and started practising at his clinic at Fire Brigade area of Shillong.
Realising the need for an outlet, Dr Medhi helped her wife in opening her first shop on the ground floor of his clinic and aptly named it ‘Mili’s Choice-Your one-stop ethnic destination in Shillong’ in 2014.
Kabita said, “It took me 18 years to realise my dream of having a quaint space of my own and it would have been never possible without my husband’s support.”
Mili’s Choice is now an important landmark point of the area.
Work and exhibition:
Kabita now brilliantly fuses the beautiful motifs of Assamese tradition with that of Khasi’s Jainsem and vice versa. She has a deep interest towards the colour combination of Red and Golden (Guna).
As an authorised designer of silk, Kabita has exhibited her work at the Guwahati and Jorhat branches of North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd (NEDFi), organised by Silk Mark of India. At the East India Fashion Week in Guwahati recently, Kabita presented her exquisite collection of designs in the inaugural show of the day.
The showstopper for her collections, Barsha Rani Bishaya, an acclaimed Assamese actress, walked down the ramp in a beautiful Mekhela-Chador of myriad hues. She mentioned Kabita’s designs as very innovative and realistic in nature. “I am looking forward to wearing more of her designs in the near future. It’s amazing as for how beautifully she has fused the season’s mood with bright colours,” Barsha said.
Kabita’s scintillating show garnered immense love as she walked down the ramp with Barsha amid applause from the audiences. Her work in the fusion of Garo’s Dakmanda, Jaintia’s Dhara-Muka (Muga), Khasi’s Dhara and Assamese Mekhela-Chador made a lasting impression on the public.
Kabita Baruah Medhi’s endeavour of setting up her own space might have taken time but she has successfully made a mark in the business in a very short time. With the constant support of her family, she is now aiming for the stars.
(Contributed by Prabir Kumar Talukdar)
