The clothes created by women working on hand embroidery at home are filled with the joy and cuteness of children, just as they envision them in their minds. The garments at Aruna’s Tara Baby Shop, made in traditional styles, reflect this idea, where the goal is not just financial gain but something far greater.
Aruna’s story, hailing from Idappally, is the story of an entrepreneurial venture that brought about a transformation in the lives of many women. Tara Baby Shop is not just the name of a regular shop, but the story of a movement that began 44 years ago with the intention of making a change. In the past, clothes for men, women, and children were available in the same shop. However, Anu’s goal was different: to create high-quality, hand-embroidered clothes exclusively for children.
The concept was simple: decorate children with hand embroidery. But behind it was a great deal of hard work, enthusiasm, and a powerful vision of women’s empowerment. “I never considered this as a source of income,” says Anu “It’s something women can do at home, according to their own time, as a peaceful activity without seeing it as work.”
In Anu’s venture, the main products are hand-embroidered dresses made by women at home. Anu and her team visit their homes to collect the products. Often, even after setting deadlines, the work isn’t always completed on time. But there’s never a complaint, as Anu understands that the women can only work when they have the time.
The shop manufactures clothing for newborns up to 12-year-old children, women’s nightwear, and special nightwear for pregnant women. The only garments made for boys are shirts. Everything is made with original cotton, in traditional styles, and using the excellence of old-fashioned handwork. What sets Tara Baby Shop apart is the exclusivity of handwork—there’s no machine touch at all. Anu herself designs all the pieces. Each product, though not necessarily trendy, has a story behind it.
Today, there are three shops in Ernakulam, Thrissur, and Kottayam, along with an online store. Each shop has 2-3 employees, who are all the heart of this venture. Tara Baby Shop offers not just a source of income, but also self-confidence. Anu continues this journey with the full support of her family. “We initially took out a loan to start. The first shop cost around 1-2 lakh rupees,” says Anu Today, they deliver across India, with products reaching foreign destinations through people traveling abroad.
Anu strongly believes that clothing should not cost too much. She promotes recycling on a large scale, given the environmental context. However, she feels saddened that this mindset is now fading in many people.
Tara Baby Shop is a brand. But at its core, it is the hard work of every woman, a gift to the cute hearts of children through the medium of fabric, and one that has no harm to the environment. What began 44 years ago with hand-embroidered dresses for children has now become a mission that inspires women to move forward with self-confidence. This venture, which empowers women to work from home with heartfelt, traditional, and machine-free products, is not just a path to income—it is also an effort to make society more productive.
