It is interesting to see how my life turned into an example of two axioms: ‘If one door shuts, another one opens’ and ‘Age is just a number’. The entrepreneurial venture ‘RZM Torans’ is a tangible example of this.

I was born into a middle-class Zoroastrian family in Madhya Pradesh, where my father was a weaving master in a textile mill. At some point, we moved to Mumbai. I completed my schooling in the big city and went on to graduate in arts from Ruia College. I soon took up my first job in 1967 as a stenographer at Timber Industries to support myself and my two elder sisters, who could not complete their education. After a rather satisfactory career spanning 38 years, I retired as an office administrator from Lumex Lightings in 2005, at the age of 59.

I soon realised I needed to find something to keep me occupied and active, and generate a sustainable income for my sisters and myself. As a hobby, I used to make kaach na toran (glass bead hangings), a traditional Parsi craft used to beautify door frames and invite warmth, happiness and good fortune into one’s home. The most authentic hangings are made of glass beads; but they are also created in a variety of other beads, designs, shapes and sizes.

My mother initiated me into this art. Though I wasn’t actually taught it, I picked it up by watching her. In the olden days, during her monthly menstrual cycle, she would live in a separate room and not do any chores around the house. That’s when my grandmother taught her how to make toran to keep her occupied. My sisters and I didn’t have any such restrictions, but we tried our hands at toran-making anyway.

When I started making basic toran, I needed to hone my skill. So I approached a cousin who lived nearby. Soon, my elder sisters Roda, 80, and Zarine, 76, decided to join me in this entrepreneurial venture. Thus ‘RZM Torans’ was born as a collaboration of our initials!

To test the waters and see how sustainable this venture could be, we put up a stall at a Parsi exhibition in Dadar Parsee Colony in 2006. Almost all our toran sold like hot cakes and left us with heaps of orders to fulfil. We were thrilled and our confidence grew by leaps and bounds.

Despite being up against established toran businesses, we soon got to be known for our products by word of mouth. People kept referring to us as ‘The Three Sisters’.

I must admit that our physical disabilities have been a bit of a hindrance. I suffer from partial speech and hearing loss, Zarine cannot hear and Roda is speech-impaired. This makes things difficult during an exhibition when a customer talks too fast or doesn’t understand what we are trying to say. That’s when our oldest sister Goolu Lal, 83, who is in the pink of health, jumps in to shield us.

I remember one time when an Australia-based client placed an order for eighty 10 × 5-inch pieces. I miscalculated the time we would need to complete the task; when the deadline neared, the three of us had to pull up our socks. We put in 13 to 18 hours each and worked every day until we finished the order. What an achievement it was! It is these small challenges that add much-needed excitement to our lives, otherwise on any other ordinary day you will catch us watching television, reading the newspaper and discussing our soap operas.

Today, as RZM completes 11 years, I am pleased to say that we have a loyal customer base from around the world. Our customers appreciate the materials we use—ranging from ordinary glass beads to crystal glass beads, antique beads and even acrylic beads—and we have plenty of customers who approach us for exclusive and customised garlands with a particular design or certain words engraved as well as to repair and restructure their antique collection of kaach na toran. Mind you, reshaping and repairing an old toran is much more tedious than making a new one. We spend about 10 hours each day making toran.

Over the years, we have also forayed into making artistic designer frames, wall hangings, coasters, bracelets and mats, all made from a wide variety of beads. Many people say spinsterhood stings you like a bee. However, with the support of my sisters and our fierce desire to be self-dependent, nothing will deter us from spreading happiness—not even our physical shortcomings!

To place an order for products from RZM Torans, call (0) 9867417925

—As told to Delaveen Tarapore

Photo: Delaveen Tarapore
Featured in Harmony — Celebrate Age Magazine
December 2017