Jesmina Zeliang: Entrepreneur who introduced innovative textiles from Nagaland to the world

Zeliang's love for textiles, specifically handloom textiles, blossomed at a young age. She has stored in her memory childhood tales of her mother weaving traditional Naga shawls for her family. This was the initial influence that later became her passion.

India has emerged globally as an ever-growing entrepreneurial country. A profusion of businesses laid the foundation for the nation to now stand as the third largest entrepreneurship ecosystem globally. From tech to agro to cottage industries, Indian businesses have peppered their diverse culture into their innovations. Traditionally backed startups with ideas capable of giving birth to youth trends have stretched the Indian startup and business arena into a hub of ample opportunities.

Along with this fast paced work and innovative culture, empowerment of women is another concept that is positively influenced by this practice. India has also made major development when it comes to women's entrepreneurship. Women entrepreneurs have immensely made an impact on the economical demographic structure of the nation in the past few years. The Indian start-up sector involves 45 % of women-led projects. The last decade saw the nation gaining over 100 unicorns. The year 2021 marked the most women-led startups switching into unicorns. Including established names like Byju's, Nykaa, and Mobikwik, which are now known by most as some of the major women-led startups. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

The northeastern region of India is home to many traditionally backed innovations. Businesses from the Northeast (NE) region have made sure to put their names on the map. Innovators and businesspersons have gone to achieve prestigious national awards too. However, even after marking their names in their field of work and influencing society's development, the world still stands quite far, remaining unaware of them. This discussion is inclusive of the women and women entrepreneurs of the region.

Nagaland, one of the states of the northeast region, is known as the falcon capital of the world. Jesmina Zeliang, a daughter of the 'land of festivals', is a women entrepreneur whose name can be discussed in regards to women entrepreneurship in the northeast region of India. An innovative contributor to the handicraft and textile business of the region, Zeliang is also the official marketing agent for Fabindia in Northeast India.

Zeliang's love for textiles, specifically handloom textiles, blossomed at a young age. She has stored in her memory childhood tales of her mother weaving traditional Naga shawls for her family. This was the initial influence that later became her passion.

Zeliang is popularly known as the founder of Heirloom Naga, a textile firm based in Dimapur. The 54-year-old lady founded this textile studio in the early 90s, which now employs about 450 plus Naga women. These women are facilitated with the option of weaving from their homes. The work process involves producing textiles, which are influenced by traditional Naga patterns and motifs. The products are however meant for modern, urban residences. Zeliang taught herself the sensibility for design and developed an entrepreneurial spirit within herself. This later acted as an attractive factor for the judges of the annual JSW Prize for Contemporary Craftsmanship 2019-2020.

Zeliang built a girls' hostel with locally available raw materials and financially backed it with the JSW prize money. Zeliang's studio and work environment come off as a sustainable culturally rooted workspace.

Zeliang's journey of creating Heirloom Naga commenced with 5 weavers who decided to come and reside with her for the purpose. In her words, at its onset, it was just a backyard project. She was married and had a two-year-old son during that time. Zeliang initiated the first display of her samples in the year 1993, in the Santushi Market Complex in New Delhi. The next phase of her aspirations involved travelling back and forth to Delhi and Mumbai to knock on the door of stores. What started as a backyard project with 5 weavers, soon levitated to 150 weavers in two years. Zeliang believes they possessed a distinct style, which allowed them to grow rapidly. Fabindia, Shyam Ahuja, and Contemporary Arts & Crafts in Mumbai, are some of Zeliang's earliest clients.

When it comes to Zeliang's business taste, she traversed the road that was less travelled. At a time when there was a crossover to acrylic fibres or cashmilon, Zeliang resorted to weaving in pure cotton. She also facilitated the introduction of the work model known as the cluster model. According to Zeliang, she wasn't aware of such terms. She expressed that grouping weavers together worked in favour of their purpose and eventually these clusters started growing with the increase in demand. Zeliang also realized the emotional aspect of working in large factories after seeing pictures of factories by other producers from India. She identified flaws in the worker migration trend and was determined to pave a way for her weavers to work from their homes. She expresses contentment in the fact that their artisans are not displaced from their homes to dark, gloomy workshops. She is proud of skilling hundreds of weavers to date.

Jesmina Zeliang is presently an executive member of the Handicrafts and Carpet Sector Skill Council (HCSSC) for the North Eastern region. Along with that, she is the founder and director of Cane Concepts. Established in the year 1993, the company manufactures and exports bamboo products. Her ventures also include the establishment of Konyak, an outlet in Guwahati and Dibrugarh (Assam) meant to sell products from Nagaland. She is also a Founding Partner of a heritage hotel located in Kohima, RazhuPru.

Zeliang's journey would surely inspire everyone to nurture a motivating outlook towards the art of handicrafts and textiles. She has influenced and paved the way for self-employment in Nagaland. The entrepreneurial world is grateful for her presence and contribution. As she moves further with her not so middling ventures, she will continue to contribute to the industry, while inspiring many to walk in her footsteps.

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