Years of research on silk and its history, the unending passion towards fashion trends helped Beena Kannan reinforce her position in the textile industry.
The growth of the Silk Empire in India can be attributed to a handful of people, and Beena Kannan is one among them. She is determined, fierce, caring, noble and artistic, all at the same time. She decided to take over her father’s dream, took baby steps and single handedly built an empire of silks. From a single store in Alappuzha, Seematti now has ten outlets across Kerala. You took up the reigns of Seematti at a very young age. What was the motivation behind that decision? Financially, it was a very difficult time for us. It’s a fact that earning a bigger income from textile business is a difficult task and is very tough compared to other businesses. After completing my degree, I tried many other options like PhD, MBA etc. Then my father asked me if I am interested in teaching. I said no. Then he asked why wasting a seat then? Then I asked him if I can accompany him in his textile job. He said yes. I’m his only daughter. My marriage was also fixed at that time, so I asked my husband too if there is any problem for him in me accompanying my father in his job. He was ok with that and I started working with my father. The Indian silk industry is incomplete without your name. How do you look back? I never thought that I will be here. I just wanted to run the Seematti shop. Textiles shops used to sell lungies, towels and all at that time. Cheetti material, terivoile sarees were only available during those days. Then synthetic sarees came in . Following that, Organza came. Again, power loom and mills were there but now all the mills are being converted to malls. So changes are constantly happening in the industry and we will have to adapt to this scenario. I always strive to be what I am and try to deliver the best. So I learned everything one by one. Presence of a woman in this industry was not that strong in the past. But now, there are thousands of women who run shops and boutiques. I am in this field for more than 20 years. I collect materials at the right time. So I could develop a trust among the people. As usual, issues were there but fortunately I could overcome everything.
Seematti was the first shop in the State to introduce touch screen kiosks to view designs and dress materials. Do you have any plans for upgradation of technology in Seematti? The use of technology has been very much useful for us. The computer programme used by us was developed by my husband Kannan and it is still being used with minor changes in all our stores. He developed the computerized billing program too. We introduced the touch screen kiosk system, but no technology can help in differentiating the shades of a particular colour. People have to find the difference with their own eyes. Technology has the limitations. This is an era of social media websites, online shops etc. You can find the cheapest things but most of the times, the items that we receive won’t be the same one that we might have ordered for. There are many funny things happening in e-commerce sector. I advice everyone including NRIs to come here for a holiday, get things that you want by yourself, especially dress materials. Trust your own eyes which have three trillion cells in the iris, which no camera or smart phone can offer. The name Seematti has become synonymous with Beena Kannan, which means that you have become a brand by yourself. Was it a deliberate attempt of personalized brand building? If it was deliberately created, anyone in this industry could do the same. But why aren’t others doing it? It is not a created one. It is very difficult to get established like this in this field. We can jump to a small platform but not to the tree top. See, people have different opinions. As time races ahead, what we did thinking that it was the right move, turns out to be wrong. Every single thing changes according to time. People found it difficult to buy quality products in the past, but now it has become an easy task. And now, the sales and maintenance of the stock has become the most difficult thing. How has the current financial scenario affected the textile industry, especially after the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST)? I cannot explain that in just one sentence since we belong to a bigger system. In my view, GST is good for India’s growth as it is anticipated. Initially, we might see a downward trend in the textile industry also which is likely to recover in the years to come. The problem in the northern States was different in nature. There are a lot of textile units in Bihar and Surat, who manufacture and sell clothes without paying a single rupee as tax. So the new system was a huge blow for them. This resulted in a major fall in the work orders they received which in turn forced them to go for a cut in the staff strength and the traditional embroidery workers went back to their homeland. In fact, I got an opportunity to interact with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley regarding GST. He was impressed with the suggestions put forward by me. My major point was the need to reduce the rate of 12 percent fixed for cotton yarns which is at par with manmade fabrics. Both of these could be sold together only if cotton fabrics are charged less. Next one was regarding his urgent intervention to simplify the filing of GST returns. It is humanly impossible to prepare 38 to 40 reports in a year. He was actually impressed with my suggestions and even informed the gathering that my suggestions were sensible and worth considering. Now, major textile brands are being developed as Malls. What do you feel about that? As the culture changes, the system also changes. People find it comfortable to go and shop in AC malls. It is just another technique to attract people, a kind of marketing strategy. Most of the textile shops include a super market too. While the customers buy dress for an amount, the shop gives a discount in buying groceries. That is their strategy and we don’t have any business to comment on that. Most of the major brands including the textile brands are foraying into other areas like real estate. Do you have any such plans? I could have done it. But I am not involved in any other kind of business. It is true that just with this textile business, no one can exist. No one can fly high only by selling textile goods. You maintain a good rapport with your weavers and designers and work closely with them. What is the point of doing this? I, myself give designs to them. Ninety percent of the designs of sarees in South India are done by me. Most of the master weavers are with me. It is very tough to make dresses according to the customer’s time. So I select a design and give it to the weavers. I cannot stand just with two or three pieces. I want quantity production. Other designers will just show three or four pieces of designs, and people are ready to buy them for the price the designer says. I cannot do that. What is your take on gender inequality in the present scenario? It depends on how we approach things. For me, I am being respected everywhere. I know how to travel safe. We need both men and women. The things that are difficult for women to do can be done easily with the help of men. Women are much stronger than men; women do multi tasking. Men cannot do that. It’s not about competition. We have to live together. What are your other passions? I love painting and dancing. Now I am concentrating on yoga, gym and meditation. How do you maintain your looks? I am very careful about my looks. I don’t restrict myself in having food. But I will look after my mind and body; I spend enough time to take care of myself. I love sweets. I won’t deny any kind of food. I enjoy each and every moment. My family is very supportive. My daughter is in US. Both my sons are with me.
