Avintika Arukia, is a trained yoga instructor, a traveler, and a free young soul! On her way to Shillong, she had stopped over at Kolkata – the city of joy to visit her grandmother. Our common friend Shreya introduced each other and it was so lovely to meet such a curious and excited individual. Shreya recommended Avintika for the Real Women series and she immediately accepted the offer the moment it was explained to her.
Like any new visitor in a new city, she wanted to explore and most importantly shop! She wanted to check out the local markets, get handcrafted things, and we as responsible localite took her to different places. Dakhshinapan (south Kolkata) was one of them, where she ended up shopping the most. For those of you who don’t know, Dakshinapan is an open-air cultural spot cum shopping complex, the latter consisting mainly of various types of State emporiums from all over India dealing in handlooms, handicrafts, textiles, furniture, fancy goods, jewelry and much more.
“explore the unseen”
She fell in love with the skirt (in the pictures) and didn’t waste time to make it her own. She also bought a beautiful black cotton saree, which was on her list for a long time. Which she couldn’t wait to drape it for our ‘real women’ shoot. But unfortunately, my hard drive crashed and lost all those footages, could only save these few pictures. Well, life goes on… hopefully we come together again for a shoot and could show you how lovely she was looking draped in the traditional Bengali way.
Coming back to Avintika, I didn’t know her for too long and whatever time I had spent with her, she was always true to herself. She embraced her body and always walked with her heads held high. She knows her body too well and dresses accordingly. To be frank I didn’t have to give her much styling tips, in fact, fell in love with her rings collection! Since she was traveling and didn’t expect a photoshoot to happen she obviously wasn’t carrying many clothes yet we didn’t face any problems to showcase the real her. 
At her early 20s, she’s quite aware of things around her and within her which is commendable. We need to celebrate ourselves and support each other. As it is, in this patriarchal world, we women have to struggle and fight our way. No point making it even more difficult by self-criticising and doubting ourselves. Let’s feel free and love ourselves just the way we are! Cheers to all you women (and men) reading this, #TreatYourBodyWithRespect
“Keep your body strong, mind sharp, soul nourished, and spirit positive”
♥
Face | Real Women : Avintika Arukia
Stylist and Blogger: Ingela Biswas
Photographer: Sayan Dey
Assistant photographer: Vicky dev