Saumya Jyotsna
Sumati Jalan, 43, who is mostly out of Patna for her studies, always felt that Biharis in other states were looked down upon and ridiculed a lot. When she used to tell people that she is also from Bihar, people used to tell her that you do not look Bihari at all. During this, she also met many such people, who hesitated even to call themselves Bihari. He felt very bad seeing this. After that Sumati Jalan decided that she would definitely do something that would make every Bihari proud of their culture and history.
On returning to Bihar, Sumati Jalan started preparations to make her dream come true. Today she is running a startup named ‘Bihart’. Not only this, through this she is working towards beautifying Bihar’s traditional arts like Sujani, Manjusha as well as weaving like Chingari, Fishnet and Jharna.
Sumati says, “People didn’t know anything about Bihar except Madhubani paintings. My family has always had a keen interest in art from the very beginning. This was the reason why I also made this rich art my work. After coming to Patna in the year 2018, along with working in the corporate sector, I started the ‘Bihart’ store on a small scale with the help of three weavers.
The art of Bihar got recognition across the countrySumati says, “I wanted to connect these arts with the common people by giving them a modern form. So, for my brand, I specially got the fabric woven by the weavers and got Sujani and applique art done on it by local artists. In this way, he started making things like kurta, cushion cover. I also took the help of social media to take my business across the country. ,
Giving employment to 25 artisans and three weavers Sumati says, “After reading about ‘Bihart’ on social media, many people started coming to my store and gradually my brand started getting recognized through social media. After that I got a call from a big fashion magazine like Vogue. Then one or two fashion bloggers from Mumbai also called me to understand about ‘Bihart’. In this way orders for ‘Bihart’ clothes started coming from all over the country. “She says that I have made my brand completely natural friendly. Right from the choice of thread to the vest, I take care of everything. In this way today this Zero Waste brand is giving employment to 25 artisans and three weavers. Along with this, I have also made my website, where there is a wonderful collection of Madhubani paintings, men’s and women’s clothes, bags, dolls etc.
