Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about how my Mother my kids Nani (they used to call her Didu) used to care of my babies.
There was something so soft about the way she moved — no rush, no apps, no parenting books. Just a deep, quiet knowing. I didn’t realise it back then, but all the things she did were rooted in rhythm, patience, and love. The kind of care that doesn’t shout — it just surrounds.
And now, through Many Frocks, I find myself returning to those same values.
#A Few Minutes of Morning Sun
She would always say, "Subah ka dhoop lagwao, sone se pehle..." — let the baby feel the morning sun before their first bath. Not too long, just enough to warm their bones. We didn’t have vitamin charts or sleep consultants, but somehow, it all worked. It still does.
#Clothes Weren’t Bought. They Were Made.
I remember tiny frocks sewn out of soft old sarees, worn thin with love. Nothing matched, and nothing mattered. The fabric had memory — it smelled like home, like hugs.
When I started Many Frocks, that memory stayed with me. That’s why we use surplus fabrics — fabric that’s perfectly good but often discarded. It reminds me of nani’s wisdom: don’t throw away what can be transformed. And honestly, what better way to wrap a child than in something saved and made beautiful again?
🌿 Neem Leaves in Cupboards
She’d keep a few neem leaves folded inside the baby’s clothes and even inside her wedding saree. For protection, she said. For purity. For care. It wasn’t science — it was faith, and maybe a little bit of magic.
#Slowness Wasn't a Trend — It Was a Way of Life
She never rushed, never tried to “manage” — instead simply held, sung to, watched as they kicked and wriggled on thin cotton sheets. Her whole world slowed down for that little person.
And in so many ways, that’s what I hope to hold space for too — a slower, more intentional kind of childhood. A way of dressing and caring for babies that values softness, not speed. Memory, not mass production.
I don’t always get it right. But when I sit with a new piece we’re working on, when I see fabric that could have gone to waste turned into something joyful — I think of her.
And I hope that in some small way, we’re keeping that old love alive.
For our babies.
For our planet.
For the ones who came before us — and the ones we’re raising now.
—
With heart,
Shilpi
Founder, Many Frocks