“Patience is the key to success. You need time to accomplish things but if you are not patient enough and want everything perfect in the first go, then it doesn’t work like that. Hard work and patience go hand in hand.” – Anagha Chandwadkar

For Anagha, creativity flows in her genes. She has inherited her creativity from her mother. She says, “My mother always used to make sweaters and other handmade stuff from crochet. I used to observe her and that’s how I started liking crochet designs. But I was more interested in working with fine threads and intricate designs. I wanted to use crochet for making jewellery. I find them unique and beautiful.”

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Anagha had studied microbiology and biodiversity. She was working for a company that used to organize wildlife and trekking camps and work for eco-tourism. She was someone who was managing their projects. 

But after her son was born, she wanted to spend some time with him. So, she left the job and came into the education sector. She joined a company which designs school curriculum for the students. She has worked in this industry for many years now.

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Anagha used to make crochet jewellery for pursuing her hobby but her interest grew in it with time. She was already working as a school curriculum developer and now she was thinking to make crochet jewellery as her full time job. She was not sure what to do but she went with her conscience and chose to work as part-time for the school and give the rest of the time for making crochet jewellery. She likes to experiment with crochet as it is a versatile medium and you can combine it with a lot of other things and make different types of jewellery designs.

The potential of crochet is endless. And that is why Anagha doesn’t want to stick to only jewellery. She has learnt wire winding which she combines with crochet and make amazing intricate designs. She also wants to explore handmade and painted jewellery with crochet. She gets a lot of orders for home decor things like cushion covers, curtain holders, wine glass holders, bags, belts and many more. If she has some spare time after her orders are done then she picks up these orders. 

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Talking about her first order, she says, “During Diwali, some of my friend’s kids came and asked me to make crochet accessories for them that goes with their outfits. Those were my first paid orders.”

“Sometimes you need to convince people to try this jewellery because they have more trust on metal jewellery. This sound something new to them and not everybody likes experimenting. So, it is harder at times, but when you love what you do, eventually people also start liking it. 

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If I had to recall my best experience till date, then that will be my jewellery exhibitions. I had organised 3-4 jewellery exhibitions. Before this I was a little skeptical about entering into this business, but the kind of response I got in the exhibitions, it was really moral boosting. After that I was fully convinced that I should go into this field.”, she says, on sharing her experiences in the jewellery business.

There are times when you have to take tough decisions in life. You have to choose what is right for you and not bothering about what people would think. Anagha is someone who has always gone with the flow. She knew her priorities very well and made her decisions accordingly. She has chosen professions that suited her in different aspects of her life. Now she is loving making crochet designs. It is a tedious job and requires very detailed work. But she is enjoying doing the craft which at last matters the most. 

If life is car then always be on the driver’s seat and have steering wheels in your hands. Don’t let others to drive for you, because you know your destination better than others.

– Anagha Chandwadkar  

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Story By: Aparna Jaiswal