“Do not grow old, no matter how long you live. Never cease to stand like curious children before the great mystery into which we were born.” – a quote by Albert Einstein which is wholeheartedly followed by Ms Anuradha Kapoor. A home decor expert following her dreams at 59, she’s welcoming life, learning and peace with open arms!A Textile Designing student during her graduation she deciphered the mystery of roles that Indian handlooms and textiles play. With a newly found interest, she freelanced for a few years doing hand painting, block-printing, screen printing and other designing work. Soon after she got married to a Master Mariner in the Merchant navy, and had a son and a daughter. Anuradha felt best to pause her work and travelled to places around the world with her family. From 1988 to 1991, she remembers having the most gala time visiting new countries.
Spending time in fancy hotel rooms, visiting malls and high streets was not on her list. Discovering the colourful cultures and finding herself in flea markets was more of her purpose. She found herself awed at how “culturally rich, beautiful and different are the countries from each other, even in the smallest of aspects!”
Deeply cherishing her visit to China where she discovered and picked up exquisite handicrafts and hand embroidery artefacts to die for! She had one of her best experiences in Africa witnessing a rusty and Earthy art culture. Sri Lanka was another trip that Anuradha treasures. She enjoyed getting to visit textile factories, loving the batik artwork, and bartering for the artefacts!
The bug of creativity was still affixed in her till much later. In 2010, she started designing things from waste, painting on metal, and experimenting with paper mache art. Enterprising on her talent she launched Wonder Waste, her own brand. She presented it in exhibitions but soon realised people were sceptical about buying things made from recycled material.
Cut to her starting her Instagram journey at the age of 55 in 2016 with children endorsing her craft, pushing her to showcase her talent online. They even assist her with her website and offer suggestions for her page, Anuraya. People reach out to her for home decor enquiries and she writes blogs on her take on decor and design, while also indulging her creative bend towards writing poetry.
A nature lover, she doesn’t bother burning a hole in her pocket for a great piece of decor. Picking up twigs, leaves, pebbles, shells while on her daily walk – she finds nature to be astonishingly resourceful! “Anything and everything can be beautiful” is what Anuradha strongly advocates, “if only you have the eye for it.”
Anuradha and her mother share a companionship which is common yet unique in its own way. Her mother reads to her, they spend hours talking and Anuradha’s mother holds her times of distress.
Her mother often narrates to her that the signs of creativity in Anuradha were prominent even when she was a toddler. On a trip to Manali, when she was 4, Anuradha stopped the bus excusing herself for the loo and getting down to collect some gorgeous pebbles! Another habit she had acquired was to organise and immediately clean up after parties hosted at their house.
Anuradha, with her obsessive organisation skills, loves sharing a range of compositions and patterns that are whole in themselves. Her Instagram is as vibrant as it looks pleasing. Her outlook on life is equally splendid. “Zindagi ek safar hai suhana, yahan kal kya ho kisne jana”, is one song Anuradha idolizes. She believes she’s learned at each and every phase in her life’s voyage. It comes with its own highs and lows but practising to be positive each time is a proactive effort that she makes. Meditation, positive reaffirmation, self-belief, and the love for her art make Anuradha the soulful human that she is.
