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bmanasvi

@bmanasvi

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Founder and Creative Director @surmeyi

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What happens when the path that looks perfect on paper no longer feels right?

In Episode 4 of Journey to Job, @bmanasvi talks about leaving corporate HR, becoming a parent in a new country, and slowly finding her way into creative entrepreneurship.

The most useful part may be her reminder that clarity often comes after action—not before it. #journeytojob #earlycareer #careerstories #careertalk #realcareerstories

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Last year, @surmeyi did a story on me, and somewhere within that conversation with @helloexcusemewhat, we spoke about my grandmother and her tattoos — Trajva. A part of my heritage that has made me feel rooted, connected and given me a sense of belonging to my culture.

It felt like a story that deserved to be told a little more.

That conversation stayed with us. And eventually, to my happiness, @bmanasvi reached out with the idea of designing jewellery together — very naturally, this story and this connection felt like the perfect inspiration.

And also, a perfect way to continue with my life theory — care, create and collaborate. Collaborate with beautiful people to create beautiful pieces.

And so, here we are. 🤍

Can’t wait to share more on this. Watch this space for more. ❤️

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Introducing Kula, our newest work, a collaboration between @haatichai and @surmeyi.

Kula began between two friends, a shared love of beautiful objects, and my long-held fascination with elephants.

I first loved them simply because I found them beautiful—these gentle giants I had collected in objects and imagery for years. But the closer I looked, the more I understood what had held my attention: their gentle strength, their deep maternal bonds, and the old wisdom carried from matriarch to matriarch.

As @bmanasvi and the @surmeyi team entered this world with me, our curiosity deepened. We became clear that we wanted to draw inspiration from elephants as beings, not motifs.

That way of seeing found its way into Kula—in the silhouettes, imprints, patterns and shadows. Pieces that don’t resemble an elephant so much as leave you with the feeling of her presence.

Perhaps that is what Kula represents to us: beauty draws us in, curiosity asks us to stay, and sometimes we discover meaning that was waiting there all along.

The closer we looked, the harder it became to separate their beauty from the fragility of their world. 5% of proceeds from Kula will support the work of @parrotfishcollective and @yaniktissera.

Kula is available to our newsletter subscribers now and opens to everyone Saturday morning.

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Notes from our future

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This bunch has been busy norming and forming into the next version of Surmeyi ✨

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Over the last few months, we went from being 3 to 6 of us. It sounds like growth, except half of us hadn’t actually met the other half in real life until a few weeks ago in Jaipur.

The instinct when a team grows is to immediately do more, make more, put more out into the world. We’ve been trying to resist that a little.

Instead, we’ve spent the summer getting to know each other, figuring out how we want to work together, eating a lot of meals around the same table, and making the most of whatever time we could steal together.

Back: Sohail, Sathvika, Shwet
Front: Mika, Manasvi, Richashree

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Some connections are meant to find their way back. ❤️🤍
A year later, we’re creating something even more special. ✨ @surmeyi

Coming soon. 🤍🙏🧿

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A few snippets from last weekend in Jaipur🤍
Almost the whole team, one city, one time zone, and somehow work became the thing we were looking forward to most 🙈🥰😮

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A field note from *To London, with Love*.

I went in expecting a room of brands.

I came away thinking about community.

There was a queue outside a South Asian pop-up. There was warmth at the door. There were founders, friends, partners, mothers, daughters, siblings, and collaborators all holding something together.

Biscuits.
Incense.
Candles.
Jewellery.
Textile art.
Chai.
Objects.
Stories.

But what stayed with me was not only what was being made.

It was the care around the making.

Friends helping friends.
Families showing up.
Partners believing in each other’s work.
Mothers standing beside daughters.
Founders making room for memory, joy, choice, and belonging.

For Keeping Company Archives, this matters.

Because community is also a form of care.

It gives people confidence.
It gives stories a place to arrive.
It lets memory become visible without being forced.

Some archives begin with documents.

Some begin with a room full of people, a table of objects, and the feeling that something tender is being built together.

#KeepingCompanyArchives #KeepingCompany #MuktiDharaRivora #FieldNotes #ToLondonWithLove #SouthAsianStories #SouthAsianHeritage #WomenLedBrands #OralHistory #MemoryWork #DiasporaStories #FoodMemory #ScentMemory #TextileArt #EverydayArchives #StoriesOfCare #LondonPopUp #CreativeCommunity #BuildingCommunity #CareAndMemory

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Sharing some meaningful freelance work from this year!💫 When Poorvi and I connected a few years ago, it was wonderful to get to know her and the mission behind @herbsandkettles. Fast-forward to last fall, we started working together on storytelling. Along the way, we felt Substack would be a great way to share more stories about and around tea and connect with tea appreciators around the world. Now, we’re 5 months and 17 posts into The Quiet Pour! Poorvi is such a thoughtful writer, and I’m blessed to be her friend and editor.

Almost weekly, as The Quiet Pour’s editor & content manager, I chat with Poorvi and vicariously experience her adventures across India’s most beautiful, rural, and vibrant tea gardens and farms. From Assam to Darjeeling to Arunachal Pradesh. These regions and their teas are treasures. As I’ve learned, India cultivates more than just robust black teas. There are nutty green teas, fragrant white peony teas, and buttery yellow teas.

It’s powerful and beautiful to experience your passions align and expand through your work—for me, that’s writing and tea, among other things. I can definitely say that I’ve become a more curious tea appreciator while sipping through Herbs & Kettles tea selection (Meghalaya Silk Cloud and Vanilla Lavender Chai are among my faves).

Catch up on The Quiet Pour at herbsandkettles.substack.com! Let me know what you want to see from us next 🫖🧡

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“We gradually started making friends and finding community in our new city, over cups of chai in our new home.”

Seasonally on The Quiet Pour, we’re excited to chat with tea appreciators who inspire us and get their thoughts on tea and connection.

We’re curious to know: What does it mean to intentionally connect with ourselves, our communities, and our world? How can tea be a conduit for deeper connections in our lives?

@by.samiabbasi recently sat down with @bmanasvi, the founder & creative director of @surmeyi, to explore how she found her sense of belonging when she moved to the States from India in 2015. Plus, what she does to stay connected and grounded during the busiest of weeks. And, in true Herbs & Kettles fashion, there’s lots of chai included!

Swipe to read snippets of the interview, and you can read the full piece at herbsandkettles.substack.com 🫖

Thanks so much, Manasvi, for sharing your thoughtful stories and perspective!

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Ebb / Flow, our latest set of glass bangles, will be available for preorder starting this Sunday!

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Okay so as a kid, Ma always said don’t grin like a monkey. Coz crooked teeth and all that was the reasoning. So I didn’t. Till I did. And now, every moment I get, I grin, I smile with my eyes, my mouth, my lips, my face, my being.
Your parents may have taught you shame, but you can also unlearn what was taught by folks who remain beloved to you. Both. And.
You can love your parents. You can also learn not to be them.

📸 @gstephengreer
👗: @bmanasvi and @azeema.nur
👠: Marrakech
#immigrantstories #madhushreeghosh #safar

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