Born surrounded by the bucolic stretches of Mathbanga in Cooch Behar, Mrs. Archana Surana started her story as Archana Kundalia in a family of jute traders. She did most of her growing up – participating in sports, learning about the world around her - in the characteristically North Bengal atmosphere of Siliguri where her originally Rajasthani family of the Kundalias was settled.
While today we see a bold and outspoken leader in Ms. Surana, as a child she was quiet and shy, albeit one who spent a lot of time observing people and picking up intriguing, little details about the world, a skill that has stuck through the years. The qualities that we see today first started developing their rich, broad hues during her school years and beyond.
Recognized today for her mentoring women and uplifting women entrepreneurs, as a child she tried her hardest to break away from the mould of a girl she was cast in. Girls, she felt, were hardly afforded the same free rein that boys were to go out into the world and achieve their dreams. All that changed when as a 15-year old she received a prize from Kiran Bedi for her achievements in school; meeting such an influential woman in the police forces – a man’s world almost impenetrable by women at the time – was the spark that inspired her to lean into her identity as a woman and channel it in her life’s pursuits.
Whether anyone is ever born a leader is anyone’s guess, though what we can say for sure is that Archana started the process of forging herself into a veritable leader in high school as the Head Girl of St. Thomas Sr. Sec. School. As with most leaders, Ms . Surana had her trials too. And as with most heroes and the stuff of inspiring parables, there were moments that would come to redefine who should grow up to be. One such turning point in her life was when she was supposed to give a prepared speech for a school function - only to forget her speech standing in front of a sea of people . That moment caused a great deal of embarrassment but also birthed iron-clad resolve never to rely on mental crutches again.
Ever since then, Mrs. Surana has given all her speeches spontaneously, be it as a keynote speaker at an international conference at Antwerp or as the Chief Guest at a school event in Jaipur. More than speaking about just her extemporaneous speaking skills, however, the decision to never speak from with a sheet of paper again offers a glimpse into her brand of leadership: a steadfast belief in hidden power of the self that forgoes the comforts and certitude of following a script, and a strong bias to action, come what may. This is the same sense of conviction that she willed Arch into existence with .
The Arch campus in Jaipur’s Malviya Nagar with its state-of-the-art labs and scores of students milling about its campus may belie the humble beginnings of the institution. Arch started as a three-room operation in a small apartment with equipment donated by well-wishers, support from her family and little bit of Mrs. Surana’s imagination: the idea that Arch would someday break out of the confines of that apartment into something much bigger.
“I had never even picked up a needle and thread in my adolescence and getting into fashion never figured in the larger scheme of things,” she recounts. “I had just attended a summer course and that was my first stint in fashion."
Her interest in all things creative, the crafts and her love for India’s bounteous wealth of textiles would eventually influence her decision to pursue a diploma course in Fashion Design from the South Delhi Polytechnic where her distinction-scoring proficiency in the subject was rewarded with an invitation return as a teacher. She would continue to teach at the JD Institute in Jaipur after her marriage and later at Deepshikha College of Fashion Technology.
At that time, Mrs. Surana may not have known where all of these seemingly unrelated experiences would lead her: being born to a family of entrepreneurs early experiences with crafts and textiles; the influence of figures such as Kiran Bedi the challenges and rewards of being a leader during school experiences as a teacher teaching young women and her marriage into a family of highly-educated, thorough professionals. One would not be faulted for thinking that the founding of Arch was only a matter of when, not if, given Ms. Surana’s passion for fashion, education and entrepreneurship.
But all of these experiences could only be catalyzed into something tangible with the dynamism of a woman determined to create a world-class institution and build a name for herself, never mind the expectations of a traditional Indian society.
Though derived from the first four letters from her word, Arch goes beyond just Archana Surana. Just like the architectural feature, it stands as a strong foundational structure and a welcoming gateway into the future. Arch in its present form is testament to a legacy has since been entrusted to its many students, staff and supporters who are equal stakeholders in its continued success.
Fashion, business and education – all passions of Ms . Surana – come together to define the ethos of the institution. Today, Arch is recognized the world over as a premier design school imparting top-notch design education to students in fields such as Fashion, Jewelry, Interiors, Design Communication and Entrepreneurship, informed by global standards.
Beyond Arch, Ms . Surana carries over her passion for entrepreneurship, education and women empowerment into her other projects. She founded the Women’s Forum, another labour of love, which is a network of women entrepreneurs and professionals that organizes weekly activities in Jaipur and Udaipur to provide professional mentorship to its members.
‘HUBIn,’ the design business incubator at the ARCH Campus is another such undertaking created to provide the necessary resources, services, coaching, mentoring and networking start-ups so that they may deploy their design innovations at scale.
Somewhere in the midst of all this, she also creates the time to serve leadership roles at organizations such as Rotary and Interact, represent Arch at international bodies such as CUMULUS, the International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes (IFFTI) and the World Design Organization (WDO) and serve as a member of organizations such as Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and the Indus Entrepreneurs (TIE) among countless others.
One cannot be at faulted if they think that it would take superhuman abilities to not just handle wearing so many hats but excel at it.
Mrs. Surana might just possess some superhuman abilities that mortals such us as haven’t been privy to yet, but a more realistic explanation would be her rootedness in spirituality, Vipassna meditation and her Terapanth beliefs.
In her free time, she likes to spend time playing golf with her friends, converse and absorb new ideas from her students and spend time with her family – her husband Rajeev, sons Manan and Tanmay, and her adorable beagle, Eva – that provides her with the remainder of the energy it takes to carry her many mantles.
