A pixie with large talking eyes and busy hands weaving butterfly dreams. That is Sreeti Mondol for you. Someone who is definitely, decidedly a gloriously luminescent butterfly, out of her cocoon that many of us spend a lifetime hibernating in. Sreeti is a fount of colour and energy, smiles and chatter and then there are the beads. In hues of golden Champagne, ripe pomegranate, blue ice, blazing gold and more. Beads that she strings together to create showstopping bead curtains, screens, lamps and gasp inducing murals and more. Sreeti retails her creations under the appropriately named brand,Memories of a Butterfly (MOAB) and looks so happy with her life that you immediately want to reboot yours and start creating something smile worthy.
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She offers by way of explanation, “Memories is the meaning of my name Sreeti in Bengali.I have always found butterflies to be wondrous, beautiful, calm, unique and special. I am inspired by the “Butterfly Effect.” `Memories of a Butterfly’ is a phrase that has stuck with me since I was a child so the company was always going to be called that.” Someone so unusual will have an unusual background, right? Sreeti does not disappoint when she says, “I am a Bengali, a Kashmiri, from UP and am even part Burmese! I was born in Trivandrum and brought up in Delhi till I was 13. Then I was in Manila, Philippines where I finished high school in an International school. Did BA in Psychology from Lady Sriram College, Delhi, then MA in Transnational Communication and Global Media in London University, Goldsmiths College. Started work and moved to Bangalore and worked with Shinning Emotional Surplus (a Brand Consultancy Company) as Strategic Planner and then with Ogilvy & Mather as an Account Manager.”
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Whew, as we pause for a breather, there comes the proverbial twist in the tale.“I moved on to McCann Erickson as Strategic Planner. At this point, I was already getting fidgety and wanted to do something more hands on, creative, independent and fun. THEN, I had a freak accident and ended up with a broken neck! Traction, surgery, intense and painful recovery for about a year in Delhi with family and that’s when the creative bone kicked in ! Pun intended,” she smiles.
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And continues, “ By the time I was back in Bangalore, I had already explored various ideas and made my first bead curtain while still in recovery.” Obvious question, why bead curtains? Obvious answer. “A somewhat hippie upbringing! Parents have great taste in interiors and their own distinct creative bones! My grandfather is a creative genius and has been a huge influence since I was a kid… teaching me everything from plumbing, electric work, to painting, candle making, handiwork. Also there is suddenly this outburst of interest in interiors with a more experimental scope in creating unusual interior accessories. The idea of the bead curtain itself interests me. It is stationary and flexible at the same time, both a separator and a yet has a translucent quality. It can be completely sophisticated or modern/contemporary/smart/cutting edge and sharp and can also be casual/bohemian/retro and colorful and even gaudy and festive if need be. I use interesting materials like bone discs, amber, honey drop beads, Australian shell, painted ceramic, cut glass, carved beads, acrylic, crystal. Beads are magical, they are textured, colored, transparent, reflective. They have the same playfulness that marbles had on us when we were kids.”
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Sreeti enjoys the endless possibilities her medium affords her and that is the reason why MOAB has added personality to temple rooms, bedrooms, drawing rooms, restaurants, walk in wardrobes and more. She has even designed murals for wedding mandaps. She enthuses, trying to sum of the range and variety of her projects, “I have worked with clients with all kinds of extremes in taste! Yes, it does feed my excitement to meet different people and cater to their varied tastes…. figuring them out and making them happy with my product.”
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Some of her hot selling bead designs are polka dots, ikat, butterflies, flowers, swirls, logos, funky symbols and more. “The Aztek was the first curtain I did while I was in recovery and still wearing a neck brace and practically bed ridden. It gave me joy…at the risk of sounding cheesy! Customization is of utmost importance to me. Every client is unique and its only fair that they want their homes to portray their uniqueness. So our bead curtains are completely customized and get you that `wow’, we all want to hear! We customise every piece for architects, interior designers, hotels, restaurateurs, builders and individual home owners in Bangalore and other parts of India.”She adds that the bead lamps, box candle stands and chandeliers are an extension of the same idea and thematically bring together other spaces in a house or a restaurant.
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Sreeti considers each project as a learning experience and a challenge. She sobers up, “As businesses go, there have been the tough times, very few tough clients, touch wood, but largely great projects and great work experience. The company grew at its own slow pace and I liked it that way.”
The final word from the curly haired gypsy? “I enjoy what I do and am glad to be finally doing something I enjoy. The hard work is worth it and feels less like work and more like fun. I might sound cheesy again but even the most sophisticated clients have this sometime child like reaction to the curtain! Its not like furniture that no matter how well designed, is still static. A bead curtain is such fun and you can’t help feeling thrilled around one! I sell what I myself would buy.”
More about her work here..http://memoriesofabutterfly.com/
Reema Moudgil has been writing for magazines and newspapers on art, cinema, issues, architecture and more since 1994, is an RJ, hosts a daily Ghazal show, runs unboxed writers, is the editor of Chicken Soup for The Indian Woman’s soul, the author of Perfect Eight (http://www.flipkart.com/perfect-eight-9380032870/p/itmdf87fpkhszfkb?pid=9789380032870&_l=A0vO9n9FWsBsMJKAKw47rw–&_r=dyRavyz2qKxOF7Yuc ) and an artist.