22/01/2025
Ever since I was a little girl, I admired both my grandmothers. During summer holidays, I used to assist my maternal gran in making pickles for the year. She taught me how to make the popular Gujarati chhundo (sweet shredded mango pickle) and gunda nu athaanu (manjack fruit pickle). My paternal gran taught me, among many thousand things, how to make shrikhanda from scratch. I’ll admit I’ve never attempted these recipes on my own, but just spending time with my grannies and making some core memories like these will always stay with me like their warm hug.
I have been privileged to have received both their love in life. Sadly, they are not with us anymore, but their legacy lives on. They are also the two women who inspired my love for sarees from a very young age - Jaya and Vijaya, my dear grandmothers. It only seemed right that when I decided to start a saree store, it be named after them.
Interestingly, Vijayā is also an epithet of Goddess Durgā, found in the Devī-bhāgavata-purāṇa, verse: विजित्य पद्मनामानं दैत्यराजं महाबलम् । विजया तेन सा देवी लोके चैवापराजिता (vijitya padmanāmānaṃ daityarājaṃ mahābalam | vijayā tena sā devī loke caivāparājitā) || 🌺
(Translation: “Having conquered Padmanaman (a name referring to a great being) and the mighty Daitya king, that goddess became known as Vijayā (the victorious one) and remains Aparajitā (unconquered) in the world.”)
Thus, with the divine blessings of Devi and my Grandmothers, I present to you with much love -
✨House of ViJayā✨
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