My surname, Soni, translates to “goldsmith” and generations of my family created and designed jewelry, from necklaces to earrings and everything in between.

 

Although my family were goldsmiths, the majority of the women in my family wore silver or “chandni.” The only gold they mostly wore was their “mangalsutra” which is a marital necklace and five gold marital bangles.

 

Soni also has another, more literal, meaning. When translated directly it means pretty or “with golden beauty.”

 

Although I say generations of my family were goldsmiths, most if not all, were the men in my family. The women mainly stayed at home and took care of the kids and house chores. I remember my great aunt telling me stories of how she would go to the river down from where our home used to be and bring water up the hill in a large metal pot above her head. She would do this every morning for the entire household, where 10 people lived. At the time she was only 16 years old and already married. This is just one of the many countless stories told to me of the women in my family and the silent struggles they endured.

 

This narrative of course is not new and is carried over to multiple families throughout generations. It is a story that has remained for far too long and tucked away into something that we seldom speak of.

 

With this collection, I aim to show how “Soni” the women in my culture truly are, adorning them with the gold they weren’t given, but more importantly the respect and recognition they deserve.

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 REENA