My first steps into the textile world, a first glimpse inside the Style and Design department.

This narrative of mine cannot continue without a sentiment of gratitude and remembrance for all those that have contributed to my growing into the professional I am.

Once achieved my diploma in textile design, after a five years study course at the Setificio Institute in Como, I started working as a designer by Studio Nanni Costa. This was a beautiful experience that, once over, gave me the opportunity to apply for a job in Ratti, the leading textile company in Como, directed, at that time, by Antonio Ratti, the company's founder.

To describe Antonio Ratti just as a great italian entrepreneur would be indeed belittling.

He was a visionary with an immense personality, authorative, extraordinarily charismatic, with a unique gift, that of being an artist himself.

His reputation preceded him, and here I was, a young girl in her early twenties, sitting in front of him and Maria Luisa Govoni, his precious longstanding assistant, applying for a job in Ratti!

I remember he was immediately impressed by my Indian origins. He loved India. I came to know he owned an immense collection of antique textiles and shawls from India, a good number now on display at the "Antonio Ratti Textile Centre" in New York City's MET.

He thought, at the beginning, that I wished to be hired as a designer but I was already conscious that to design only would have been too static a post. Thus my request to be assigned to the Style and Design department, directly under his supervision and that of Ms Govoni.

Here I started my long and intense apprenticeship, moving from garment to tie, accessory to furnishing, according to needs, dusting shelves even when asked to, thus getting the chance to enter the fascinating world of art and beauty hidden in the company's archives. To be able to study the designs, the prints, the textiles, was a unique opportunity to grow in all fields.

Antonio Ratti would encourage me to learn how screenprinting tables were set up - the company boasted an advanced printing department, strongly wanted by its founder - he would push me to absorb all that was around me and to state my Indian origins through the use of colour..." Neera" , he would say, "you have the sun within".

Antonio Ratti was a first class master. I was taught to understand the beauty of a textile, touching it, feeling it, screening it, discerning quality, good from bad and finally to aim for excellence! He too, like my father, was able to look beyond the horizon, above the lines, with unyielding curiosity and passion.

"I am always learning from young people" that's what Antonio Ratti, the man that dealt with very important people yet cared for his little ones, would say. A masterly lesson for all younger generations to always pursue beauty, no matter what and without compromise!