This story first appeared on Lifestyle Asia India

The world today is seeing a change. The reigning zeitgeist is all about self-care and self-love, and everyone is moving towards being unfettered and unhindered. Towards doing their own thing. Be it 16-year-old Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg singlehandedly taking up the cause of the environment, or TV host Lilly Singh becoming the first woman to host an American network late-night talk show, or even rapper Rajakumari creating ripples across the international music scene, everyone is embracing and living their flow. Spontaneity and confidence are what everyone is choosing to live by.

LIVA, a new-age, nature based fabric brand, understands this, and has crafted a narrative that speaks about what fluid fashion does, through a new philosophy ‘Live Your Flow’. To understand this essence better, we caught up with 5 self-assured, confident women who have wholeheartedly pursued their passions, and spoke to them about how they live their flow.

Gauri Devidayal

Restauranteur, The Table, Miss T, and Mag St Kitchen

Gauri Devidayal / Instagram

A graduate of University College London and a qualified chartered accountant, Gauri Devidayal was a tax consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers and later with KPMG in London for almost nine years. However, gastronomy always fascinated her and she wanted to make her passion her career. When she met her husband Jay Yousuf, a former telecommunications expert from the US and a fellow fine-dining aficionado in 2008, it was a coming together of like-minded individuals.

Three years later their collective passion led to the inception of The Table, one of Mumbai’s most popular restaurants, which owing to its ingredient-driven focus, use of seasonal produce and meats, and farm-to-table philosophy redefined the concept of fine-dining in India. “There’s no greater feeling than achieving something on your own terms when everyone was telling you otherwise,” says Devidayal. “Stepping into the shoes of a restaurateur from being a tax consultant for nine years seemed like a big mistake to most friends and family, but now they couldn’t be more proud and that’s the best feeling in the world.”

Nishat Fatima

Writer and Photographer

Nishat Fatima

There aren’t very many people who give up a highly coveted job at the top of their game. But Hyderabad-based photographer and writer Nishat Fatima did. In 2015, Fatima moved on from being the editor of one of the country’s top fashion magazines, Harper’s Bazaar, to follow her passion for photography, and enrolled at the prestigious Speos International Photography School in Paris. Today, her photographs have appeared internationally in Saveur and The Sunday Times UK, and in India in Verve, Elle, and Harper’s Bazaar as she continues to write for all these titles. “Every few years I ask myself, is this what I want to be doing? Is this how I want to live my life?,” says a confident Fatima, who is also the author of a coffee-table book on fashion designer Suneet Varma and the rom-com Seriously, Sitara?. “Living your flow for me is acknowledging where you are, and is that a good place to be and if not, picking one of the million other streams that flow from there.”

Karuna Ezara Parikh

Poet and entrepreneur

Karuna Ezara Parikh / Instagram

Calling Karuna Ezara Parikh is a true polymath. This dynamic former journalism graduate juggles the roles of being a TV host, model, poet, entrepreneur, and yogini. She is also the co-creator of the sustainable accessory brand The Burlap People, she has even co-written the film ‘Kaash’, which premiered at Toronto Film Festival in 2016, with photographer and director Ishaan Nair. Anyone who knows Parikh will tell you that the last thing you can do is contain her in a box, and that she has followed her heart every step of the way. “Though I studied journalism, I never had one plan for my life. I was driven by the idea that whatever opportunity comes my way and speaks to me, I’ll take it up with full passion,” says Parikh. “‘Living your flow’ for me is about living your life according to your plan. In the past, I have walked runways and curated stores among many other things -I just believe in following my heart.”

Jhelum Biswas Bose

Author

Courtesy Jhelum Biswas Bose

From writing to launching a brand to penning a book, author Jhelum Biswas Bose is immersed in the world of beauty, but she has never let it limit her. A true self-assured creative, this former beauty editor of Good Housekeeping and Women’s Health always wanted to expand her creative limits. She did it by exploring everything she could in the world of Indian beauty. Her eponymous beauty brand ‘Jhelum Loves’ focuses on Bach Flower Remedies, and her most recent achievement is her book ‘PhoolProof’ that talks about the power blooms have to give one a lifestyle overhaul. She believes that everything you do for yourself reflects an inner, unique well of beauty. “I do what I dream. This has been my attitude to whatever work I have done, and over the years my work has not just become my passion but my life itself,” she says.

Aastha Sharma

Celebrity Stylist

Aastha Sharma / Instagram

The style force behind Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and her impeccable red carpet looks, stylist Aastha Sharma has managed to turn several Bollywood actors such as Huma Qureshi, Kajol, Bhumi Pednekar, and Disha Patani into fashion fixtures. After working in a magazine, the Pearl Academy graduate launched her own styling company Wardrobist in March 2012. “I was always very focused and wanted to start something of my own. Once you have a clear vision of what you want to be, you can surpass all obstacles and that has been my flow,” she says self-assuredly. “I was clear that I wanted to expand my horizon and meet new people. All the problems become very small when you know what you want to do and how you want to build yourself.”

LIVA is a new-age naturally created fabric (in a pure or blended form) made from cellulosic fibres that transform not just the garment but also the person wearing it. Comfortable, soft, breathable, 100 percent nature based, and eco-friendly, LIVA fabrics’ wrinkle-free, cascading, fluid properties ensure flattering silhouettes.

The brand’s ethos of ‘Live Your Flow’ stems from this very idea of fluidity and fluid fashion. All about being unrestrained and uninhibited, ‘Live Your Flow’ captures a positive, energised state of mind where you are open to possibilities, and live a hundred percent in the moment. 

Had a ‘Live Your Flow’ moment or know someone who personifies the ‘Live Your Flow’ life? Tell us by using the hashtag #LiveYourFlow on Facebook and Instagram

Tags: LIVA Live Your Flow, LIVA Fabric, Live Your Flow, Liva Fashion, Birla Cellulose, Liva Fluid Fashion