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Growing up, most people in my school thought I and Samreen were twins. But that’s not true! She is one and a half years older than me. During my school days, I was at the first standard when she was at the second standard. But I wasn’t able to cope up from being isolated from her. ‘First period hote hi mai uske class me chala jata tha.’ So, my father demoted her to the first standard. We grew up and studied together till the twelfth class.
After twelfth, I went to Bangluru for Engineering. She stayed at Hubli, my hometown, for a year. And again, I wasn’t comfortable in Bangluru without her. So, I called her for Engineering. There, she became my junior. And I was happy about it.
Unfortunately, we lost our mother in 2015 in a tragic accident. I hadn’t healed from the loss yet. And the COVID-19 made it worse. The hectic work pressure and lock-down anxiety were getting on my nerves. I didn’t want to go into depression. So, I took mental illness counselling. But, the talk therapy didn’t work.
I researched other things to calm myself and found about ‘Knitting’ on an Instagram reel. It reiterated that the repetitive pattern while knitting helps to calm anxiety. I ordered a needle and yarn to give it a try. To learn it, I researched about it on Instagram and YouTube. But didn’t find a reliable source to learn it. Still, I kept trying. One day, I came across Anmol on Instagram and connected to her. As a mentor, she was very supportive and guided me a lot! Slowly, I found some good sources on YouTube and practiced knitting along with the needle and yarn. It helped me calm my anxiety as well.
At home, there was no discrimination. That’s why I learned cooking first, and Samreen learned to ride the bike first. We did house chores together. So, the roots of gender discrimination were cut when we were kids.
My first product was a sweater for my sister, which still needs to be completed. ‘Uske baad maine bohot saare products banaya hai. But I don’t know why her sweater is still incomplete. My first customer was a friend of mine. She generously paid me 1800. Honestly, I was naive in quoting the price. I had asked for 1000 only. ‘Usne bola 1000 me toh Max me bhi le lege. This deserves more!’ It boosted my confidence. Since then, I take orders as per my convenience.
Honestly, I have never looked upon ‘Knitting’ as a business. I am not planning to do it full-time. I am not planning to do it full-time as of now. But maybe in future, I don’t know yet. I started it to calm my anxiety. I have continued it to break the gender stereotypes in ‘Knitting’. Because how often have you seen a man knitting? I don’t understand the stereotypes around it! It’s just a human following his hobby. Why should gender play any role in pursuing a hobby?
You know, after I shared my work on social media, many men confessed that they like knitting. But, somehow, they couldn’t gather the courage to share their work openly due to societal pressure. Luckily, I have never faced such issues from the people around me or on social media. Hopefully, someday, you all gather the courage to leave behind the unnecessary pressure of society and live your life your way!
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