Meet Latika Chakravorty 89-Year-Old Entrepreneur Granny Who Is Giving Us Startup Goals

If you are already tired of slogging your bodies out and are planning to retire around your 60s, think again! Having a peaceful work life even while being an octogenarian is also possible, and Latika Chakravorty just shows us how. This 89-year-old lady not only designs chic potli bags from vintage sarees but exports the same to other countries too! Her website which goes by the name ‘Latika’s Bags’ boasts of the beautifully handcrafted potli bags made from age-old precious sarees. So, get ready to be inspired and read on, for her story is sure to leave you impressed.

She started travelling the country thanks to her husband’s job

Latika Chakravorty was born in Dhubri in Assam and was an exemplary student. She got married to Krishna Lal Chakravorty, who was an Officer Surveyor in the Survey of India. As his job was transferrable, Latika also got to travel to various parts of the country along with him.

Travelling brought her in contact with various sarees and fabrics

This gave her a chance to collect various kinds of sarees and fabrics that were specific to that part of the country and she ended up having an extensive collection. Since these pieces of cloth had a nostalgic story attached to them, she did not want to discard them.
Since her younger days, she was very fond of sewing, stitching and knitting. She would often make clothes for her children herself, like many of our mothers did, back in those days.

It was her daughter-in-law who inspired her to make potli bag

She realised her talent of converting her vintage sarees into something that would be used more frequently when her daughter-in-law asked her to make a potli bag that would match with her saree. Post that, there was no turning back and she decided to make drawstring pouches and potlis out of the saree and fabrics that she had preserved over the years. She began gifting them to relatives and friends. Her designs and sewing skills were highly appreciated by everyone until one day her grandson, Joy, recognised her potential and thought it deserved much more recognition and appreciation.

Her grandson created a website that helped Latika become famous

While on a trip from Germany, her grandson saw her work and thought that it should be expanded and made official. He then created a website for Latika’s bags and her other grandchildren promoted her work on social media websites.

She works on a 64-year-old USHA sewing machine gifted by her husband

Her most prized companion for this job is her ‘USHA’ sewing machine which was gifted by her late husband around 64 years ago. She has taken such good care of the machine that even after 64 years, it works perfectly and according to her, reminds her of her husband’s love every time she looks at it.

She gets orders from as far as New Zealand

The bags showcased on her website are priced between Rs 500 and Rs 1,500 and certainty worth every penny. Over the months, her business expanded, and she got orders from countries like Germany, Oman and New Zealand. Till date, she claims to have made over 300 bags out of exquisite sarees, mostly for gifting purposes.

Her belief is that sarees will have a longer life when converted to potli bags

She leads a simple routine life and one of the reasons behind turning antique sarees into new bags was to elongate the lives of those sarees. As per her all the sarees and fabrics have a certain story attached to them and the stories will continue to live on as long as the sarees live, even though in another form. However, she has a set of sarees that will never covert into bags due to the memories associated with them.

Her business is only growing

As of today, her talent for creating elegant potli bags from her exquisite saree collection has turned into a lucrative venture. Her son looks after her business for her while her daughter-in-law helps her in the stitching.

As they say ‘It is never too late’, and at times things just strike and give you the exact kind of pleasure you once dreamt of deriving from work. And just how it all worked out for Latika proves that age is no bar any more!