“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it” – Paulo Coelho.
Akin to the famous quote from The Alchemist, the universe, well in entrepreneur Vivek S Nambiar’s situation, the twitterverse did conspire to get Paulo Coelho adorn his designs. It all began with one tweet and an email that gave Vivek the opportunity to dress the author in one of his brand’s Antaratma’s shirts.
It was on May 14, when Coelho posted an image of himself on his Instagram account donning a pastel green full sleeve shirt featuring a front double placket. He captioned the post, which read: just arrived your wonderful tailor-made gifts, Vivek! (sic).”
It’s not often that you get a shoutout from your childhood hero on social media. But for Vivek it felt like a dream, and he is grateful to the universe for conspiring this swiftly. For Kerala based entrepreneur and former journalist Vivek S Nambiar, interacting with Paulo Coelho was nothing short of a dream come true. Reminiscing about the day he decided to send out a tweet to the author, Vivek says, “I am quite active on Twitter, and I saw Mr. Coelho interacting with someone, who was a normal regular person just like me. So, I thought ‘why not’…maybe he will respond. So, I tweeted saying ‘How can I reach you?’. He didn’t respond. Then someone shared an email id, which Coelho had shared with someone else on twitter.”
He further adds, “So, I immediately wrote him an email which said: I hope the universe conspires an interaction with you and I have been a big fan since childhood, and I have read The Alchemist so many times. And I genuinely believe in that concept that if you seek something with all your heart, the universe will help you achieve it. And I have lived my life like that, and it has worked for me so many times. Then, I mentioned that I have a sustainable brand and I would love it if I could send him a couple of shirts.”
Vivek had sent out the email on April 10th and then he forgot about it. Ten days later, during a family gathering in Calicut, Vivek received a message from Coelho. “I was out with my family in Calicut and that night I got an alert on my phone. The message on my screen read: Paulo Coelho, Hi, you were trying to reach me? I opened it and I actually almost fainted. I had to sit down. It was insane,” expresses Vivek.
In that text, Coelho also went forward and checked out one of Vivek’s tweets where he had posted a couple of shirts designed by the brand. In the text sent to Vivek, Coelho also wrote: And I loved your shirt, bottom left of your fixed tweet. Where can I buy it?
According to Vivek, he sent four shirts to Coelho. So, did the author pay for it? Vivek says, “He insisted that he pays for it, but I was like sir don’t embarrass me. You are undoubtedly one of the greatest men to walk this earth. I don’t want to take money from you.”
Known for procuring fabrics that are sustainable, the four shirts Vivek sent to Coelho were in four different colours – maroon, off white, pastel green and blush created in four different fabrics including Ayurvedic cotton, Tencel, Tencel satin and hemp. According to Vivek, Coelho also mentioned he only wears clothing made from cotton. “I told him I have something in mind and that’s when he informed me that he only wears clothes made out of cotton. He later browsed through the brand’s Instagram account and told me he would like to have a shirt in each of the fabrics”.
When asked if Coelho had any specifications when it came to the design of the shirt, Vivek says, “Mr Coelho told me ‘I like the simplicity in your designs, so keep it as simple as possible.”
