‘Stand by me’: Ostracised by congregation, 3 Catholic nuns rebuild their lives, one stitch at a time

Among the scattering of buildings that make this sprawling premises in Keralam's Kottayam district is a chapel. Right next to it is a corridor where three women are hard at work at their sewing machines. They make elegant, comfortable dresses and functional sling and tote bags – all customised to the wishes of their patrons.

Embroidery seems to be their specialty as is evident in the modest and dainty nightgowns put up on display on mannequins. It could be a humble boutique running out of a home. Except, this is not just about any home. The women behind the sewing machines are no ordinary women either.

In 2018, Sr Ranit lodged a rape police complaint against the then Bishop of Jalandhar, Franco Mulakkal. The Home is affiliated to this congregation. In 2022, a trial court acquitted Mulakkal on the grounds that there was lack of proof and inconsistencies in the survivor’s statements.

Sr Ranit, who moved the High Court against the acquittal, is awaiting a hearing. Ostracised by their congregation – Sr Alphy and Sr Ancitta paid the price of standing by Sr Ranit – and left with no sustenance, the women decided to stitch clothes for a living.

In 2023, their clothing brand ‘Stand By Me’ was born. On how the venture began, Sr Ranit says they would often get calls from Sisters in Solidarity – a loose collective of nuns, former nuns, ally priests, and other victims of sexual violence that was formed in 2018, the year she began her fight.

“They would ask us, ‘Are you still weeping?' Why don’t you do some stitching and keep yourself engaged? It started as a distraction, the stitching…” she says. But soon, the so-called distraction took the shape of necessity as the trio stopped getting sustenance funds from their congregation and had to look for ways to fend for themselves.

“We had one sewing machine at first. Then some well wishers asked what we needed to go on. We said we would like another sewing machine,” Sr Ranit tells The Indian Express. Now, the sisters have five regular machines, another for embroidery, and one exclusively dedicated to lock-stitching.

Sitting in her convent, Sr Ranit says the name 'Stand by Me' was a brainchild of the Sisters in Solidarity group. “They said that they would stand by us. That they are with us. So ‘Stand by Me’ seemed to be the right name for the clothing which we were stitching,” Sr Ranit says.

“It would be about standing by every person who has suffered gender-based violence. It was the name closest to the cause we believed in and we stood for.” Coincidentally, Stand by Me is a popular song of 1962 by black American singer Ben E King, that goes, “When the night has come And the land is dark And the moon is the only light we'll see No I won't be afraid Oh, I won't be afraid just as long as you stand, stand by me.” The brand developed as the sisters went along.

“We just wanted to stitch something. Then customers gave us suggestions. Like someone said there should be a laptop sleeve for the bag that she wanted us to stitch. We heard everyone out, all the customers, and came up with nighties, salwar kameez and bags which were custom-made.” The raw material came from their well wishers.

“There were several people who brought us raw material for stitching. We even went searching for them ourselves,” says Sr Ranit. Besides the clothing brand, the sisters grow their own vegetables and rear poultry. “We are supposed to get Rs 5,000 per month (from the congregation) as support funds, but we have not been getting it.

So, we decided to grow vegetables, sew… do everything we can to keep the Home going,” says Sr Ranit. The tracts around the Home now have rows of tapioca, cabbage, cauliflower, ginger and turmeric plants. In a pen on the campus, hens and ducks cluck and quack noisily.

The sisters have also been milking a cow and selling milk at the mission home. Stand By Me has, meanwhile, become a movement in Keralam, over and above a brand. “In Kozhikode when we first announced that Stand By Me brand was made by the Kuruvilangad sisters, a lot of people came forward to support us,” Sr Ranit says.

Last month, they sold 60 bags of three different kinds in a month and as many sets of nighties. Sr Ranit gives the credit to teamwork. “This all came from one person cutting the cloth, another stitching and another embroidering.

In one sitting by ourselves, we would only be able to stitch just 7 to 8 pieces,” the nun shares with The Indian Express. The next exhibition could be even better, says Sr Ranit. The sisters will put up their wear at Nirangal, an annual event held by the Kasturba Social Welfare Centre, Kottayam, on October 9 and 10.