About Me

Heyya

The glamour and glitz bug of Mayanagri bit me while visiting my sister who then lived in the city of dreams. And as they say, the rest is history.

Jewellery happened to me just when I was aimlessly hunting for my goal, carelessly wandering without feeling any rush to really rectify my then state of let’s chill; whatever will be will be. After steering from my family then, I landed the dazzling world of diamonds and jewellery in early 2001.

The first decade of my work life can easily be summed up as working hands-on in factories from designing on paper to designing on the cad to brainstorming product ideas to merchandising to assessing quality to tete-a-tete with customers from the world over to working against the clock and season calendar to meeting never-ending (thankfully!) shipping schedules to travelling for overseas offices and jewellery shows.

Professional jewellery space was my oxygen…Well, not only! Tons of beautiful people too who I met along my journey helped in shaping who I am today.

While the 2001-2011 decade was full of learning from scratch and implementing, the last decade has been an exciting mix of exhilarating off-beat professional, entrepreneurial, and personal experiences. For all those who say ‘I will never ever’, I suggest – Stop right there… for you never ever know what life holds and beholds :P, go with the flow.

They say if you want to understand the crux of jewellery, you must understand humans, their culture, lifestyle, choices, behaviour, money-spending habits, surroundings, and so much more. Being the first-generation to enter the jewellery industry, I was trying to find my way around. At times, industry bosses and colleagues tried to help me understand the nuance of jewellery from a business POV, and some other times, it was internet.

Parallelly I figured friends and family, too, had many questions about the inside working, designs, pricing, diamonds, jewellery, and more. Often, I found myself educating them about jewellery.

That’s when somewhere around 2005, I told myself that someday I would write about jewellery for all those who love to wear jewellery, those who are not into wearing or owning but are jewellery nerds, those who are first-generation jewellers, and those who are jewellers for generations.

This blog captures behind the scene drama, design, people, and brand stories, and why what when how… It is also an extension of my experiences, travels, learnings, and growth since 2001.

A little bit of this (facts!), a little bit of that (romance and emotion!), and a whole lotta love for dazzle, sparkle, and sizzle!

When I am not inhaling jewellery, I like to be… doing yoga, cycling, swimming, puzzling, spending time with my 10-year-old doing crazy stuff together, trying my hand at new recipes, hosting soirees, and giving an ear to those who want a friend in need 🙂

You may find flaws, gaps, and errors (language or data), may agree, may disagree, but then all ya lovely people – all of us are flawed and imperfect in some or the other, which makes us all nothing but HUMAN! So let’s some slack and spread love; we need more and more of it.

Having said that, I would love to correct myself or be showered with love – so do drop in a line at connect@firstgenjeweller.com to connect or correct. And if you are in the capital city of India, do holler; I would love to catch up over 4C’s…..wait! were you thinking what I think that you were thinking… I meant Coffee, Croissant, Cup Cakes, and Chit Chat about the glocal (local and global) world of jewellery.

Do give it a read, for I am writing straight from my heart and mind (not from AI 🙂 may be a little help here and there to research cuz only AI knows it all 😉 )

Mentions

Grateful and thankful for being graced with so many beautiful souls in my life.

My son who keeps the curious child in me alive.

My husband who ensures there is more than just the roof, bread and butter so I can dabble with blogs 😛

My sister who has taught me to never give up and for pampering and spoiling me always

My parents who have always had my back, no matter my craziness

My cheerleaders – Sandeep, Neha, Pearlita, Devika, Plawini, Mandy, Deepankar, and Sheetal for encouraging me to pivot to the digital path, for holding my hand in the vast web world, and for giving me a platform to showcase my skills.

My jewellery industry ex-bosses – Shishir Nevatia, Neeta Shah, Amit Agarwal, Caroline Breede, Rajiv Suri and last but not least Sunil Agarwal for believing in me, guiding and moulding me into who I am today.

My ex-colleagues, industry acquaintances, and lifelong industry friends; you were truly instrumental in my journey.

To all those I missed mentioning here, I could not be where I am without your help.