Substance and style

"Every Barbie doll in miniskirts believes she can run grooming and image consultancy (IC) classes. But they do not have the necessary qualifications,” states Tina Sutaria (pictured), a professional life skills coach, aesthetician and image consultant over the past 40 years. Her cryptic message: "Get qualified! We live in an increasingly rude and mannerless world. Relevance of life skills is (needed) more than ever before. If we don’t guide the youth of today, (there’s) no hope for the youth of tomorrow.”
She expands that a life skills coach deals with internal issues of "shaping minds and molding lives,” whilst IC touches upon grooming, bearing of colors on a person, different styles to be adopted by each individual to the use of deodorants as well. Aesthetics help teach how to aid families make more appealing purchases that affect choices made in life, how to handle glassware, furnishings which will blend in your home, kind of fabrics to use, etc.

The 53-year-old prides herself in tailoring courses for individuals’ special needs and says she has touched nearly a thousand people through her profession. "I do a lot of guidance, counseling, how to get out of sticky situations, confidence building. My course involves a lot of moral science. People have the knowledge of how to go through life but are riddled with complexities and don’t use their lifespans to their best and lack confidence. I channelize them by bringing out their uniqueness.” Though she prefers individual sessions, she also does corporate training for companies such as Ambit Finance, eClerx, Indian Oil, Johnson and Johnson, Mediterranean Shipping Company and others. She believes her training skills draw clients and has not felt the need either to advertise or form a company.
"Women must have contemporary home science knowledge,” advocates Sutaria. "You have to know chemical composition of cleaning liquids, what works for which predicament. Know the science behind cooking techniques and their effect on food. IC and grooming are an art because you reach an artistic level when you hone your skills; you lay the table with a more aesthetic offering. IC is not Gucci on your body; Louis Vuitton on your arm and Louboutin on your feet. For me it is a holistic approach. You may look a million bucks outside (but) building substance is paramount for me. It is all (manners, table etiquette) what our parents learnt and then (I) make it more contemporary,” she elucidates. She stresses that "etiquette is about grace and charm and a lost yesterday.” The older generation was more formal and not as casual as today.
Sutaria’s syllabus includes driving and road civility, a module "Proud to be an Indian” and she also addresses the appropriate pronunciation of ‘V’ and ‘W’. In her module on "Packaging Yourself” she explains that just as a customer cannot taste a wafer when buying a packet of chips today, a person is judged only on the outer appearance. At the sessions she also appends a glossary of French culinary terms translated into English, so that her clients would know their bisque from their consommé in the soup category and also be familiar with the Spanish rice dish of paella. In addition, there is a list of various types of alcohol in alphabetical order and when each beverage should be served. Starting with ale she slides down to whiskey.
She then talks of the braille "Handbook for the Visually Impaired” in which she has authored a chapter on life skills and grooming. Sitting across the table, she demonstrates how effectively the blind use cutlery, with as much skill as the sighted and with no faux pas. This observation was born from her experience of training the blind in 2007. The image consultant recommends storing clothes in sets for the visually impaired so that color coordination remains time-honored. She encourages them to smell the clothes and feel the crush to know if they can be repeated one more time.
According to the consultant, "even men must learn sewing, know survival cooking, wiring, plumbing, carpentry and rudimentary abilities of a mechanic.” All these are skills that her electronics engineer husband, Himanshu, also aged 53, seems to have. She calls him "an electronics and computer whiz.” In fact, Tina tires of calls from friends at any time of day or night to ask him about what fridges, tires, air conditioners, cars one should purchase. She proudly proclaims "He is an enlightened man who spends his life in the service of others.”
Her twin daughters, aged 20, are both in the performing arts. Tara is a stage actor and singer. Pia is a dance teacher and a ballet danseuse who performs different modern genres. (See Sutaria sisters, Parsiana, March 7, 2013.) Both the girls perform for several charity shows. Greatly influenced by maternal grandmother Mani Mistri, the two follow the Zoroastrian faith and pray regularly.
When her daughters were three-and-a-half years old, she took off to the UK alone to contemplate which path she intended to tread ultimately. A course at Ealing Tertiary College, outside of London was recommended to her and she stayed behind in the UK while on holiday, whereas her supportive husband looked after the girls in Bombay.
The instructor studied at Cathedral and John Connon High School and then at Rachna Sansad College to graduate in interior design. She had all intention of joining her family firm Mistri Children Academy of Architecture, being the only grandchild among two who showed any inclination, but realized this was not her preferred profession. Her late father Minocher ran the firm with his brother at the time. She persevered working as an interior decorator but then preferred teaching at Learners’ Academy for two years. "I was content but not happy.” She ran a course for Event Management Development Institute in personality development and represented Davar’s College to corporates for a module on grooming for four years. Tina was sure now what her profession would be.
Tina’s mentor was Delbar Mendes who trained flight attendants in Air India in the days when "Air India amounted to something.” When still in school, Tina was requested by the owner of a five star hotel to teach his son "how to move about in society.” She took this assignment for the summer and found the prospect exciting, satisfying and meaningful. This set her starting with life skills on a one-on-one basis.
Juggling several balls in the air, the mother-wife-musician-professional-embroiderer-counselor relaxes by singing in the Stop Gaps Choral Ensemble for refuge. She has pursued this over the past 16 years — "It’s my oasis to which I run.” She is also "an avid film goer.” Needlework, especially cross stitch, is her other relaxant. Her gifts to friends are often embroidered items.
The Zoroastrian practitioner confesses to be a conformist in many ways but adds "As an educated person, I have liberalized some views. The Zoroastrian faith is a wondrous faith. I have always been conservative in dressing and thinking but have become more accepting.” She also says she would like her children to marry Zoroastrians. She continues to anchor herself in her faith, prays hard when she has to address an audience, which is the only time her confidence is at a low ebb!