From Dreamers to Doers: What I Shared at NIFT Mumbai

On 6 April 2026, I had the opportunity to speak with students at the Entrepreneurship Cell of NIFT Mumbai. The session was called Dreamers to Doers, and that phrase stayed with me long after the conversation ended.

Entrepreneurship is often presented as a moment of certainty: a good idea, a decisive leap, a clear plan. My own experience has been much less dramatic and much more human. It has been a process of beginning, learning, adjusting, and beginning again with a little more clarity.

That was the heart of what I wanted to share with the students: you do not need to have every answer before you start. You do need the willingness to stay close to the questions that matter.

The questions behind a startup

During the session, we spoke honestly about the questions that sit behind any new venture. Who are you building for? What problem are you truly trying to solve? What will make someone choose your work, return to it, and speak about it to someone else?

An idea is important, but an idea alone is not a business. The work begins when you take it to people, listen carefully, and let the market teach you what you could not have learned alone.

For students at the beginning of their journeys, this can feel intimidating. It is also freeing. You do not have to wait until your idea is perfect. You can start with a point of view, a small experiment, and the discipline to learn from what happens next.

Confidence does not always arrive before the first step. More often, it is built by taking that first step and staying with the work.

Creativity needs a market

In the photograph: Pranjali Kharche with Dr. Tanmay Kandekar, who invited her to deliver the guest lecture and moderated the session at NIFT Mumbai.

At a design institution, creativity is never in short supply. The harder and more important conversation is about giving creativity a life in the world.

For me, entrepreneurship has meant learning to hold two things together: the instinct to make something meaningful and the responsibility to make it viable. A brand needs imagination, but it also needs focus. It needs to understand its customer, its value, its costs, and the systems that allow good work to continue.

That is not a limitation on creativity. It is what gives creativity the chance to become lasting work.

What building The Mirari Life has taught me

The Mirari Life has grown through this constant exchange between intuition and learning. We work with Indian textiles, handwoven processes, and contemporary design, but the work is never only about creating a beautiful product.

It is about asking how a textile will be worn, remembered, cared for, and brought into someone's everyday life. It is about respecting the knowledge held in craft while being honest about what a modern customer needs from a brand: clarity, relevance, quality, and a reason to return.

Every collection, conversation, and difficult decision has made that clearer. Building a brand teaches you to value the visible work and the invisible work equally: the design idea, yes, but also the follow-up, the sourcing, the feedback, the budget, the relationships, and the patience to keep refining.

Start before you feel ready

One of the strongest things I felt at NIFT Mumbai was the energy of students who are already full of possibilities. My hope was not to give them a formula. Entrepreneurship does not really work that way.

Instead, I hoped to make the path feel more possible. Start small. Speak to people. Stay curious about your market. Build a network before you urgently need one. Let feedback improve the work without allowing fear to stop it.

There will always be uncertainty. There will be moments when the next step is not obvious. But progress has a way of creating its own momentum. The first prototype, the first customer conversation, the first collaboration, and the first setback all teach you something useful.

A note of gratitude

I am grateful to the Entrepreneurship Cell of NIFT Mumbai for creating space for a candid conversation. I am especially thankful to Dr. Tanmay Kandekar, whose invitation made the guest lecture possible and who moderated the session with generosity. Most of all, thank you to the students who brought their questions, attention, and ambition into the room.

The phrase Dreamers to Doers is a beautiful reminder that ambition becomes meaningful through action. I left the session feeling hopeful about the ideas that will be built next, and about the people willing to begin before they feel completely ready.

To explore the work that continues to shape these conversations, discover The Mirari Life's saree collection.