A story of courage, craft and independence.
My name is Nilmini, and PakSri began during one of the most difficult periods of my life. In 2026, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Treatment brought pain, exhaustion, uncertainty, repeated medical investigations and expenses that continued to grow. It also forced me to think carefully about how I wanted to live through this period. I did not want every day to revolve around illness. I wanted something productive to focus on and a way to contribute through my own effort. That brought me back to hand embroidery.
Returning to my craft
Hand embroidery was something I had learned years before, but it was also something that always felt natural to me. When I began stitching again during treatment, the work gave structure to my days. Choosing colors, shaping flowers and watching a plain piece of fabric slowly become something beautiful helped me reconnect with a part of myself that illness could not take away. What began as a personal source of strength gradually became a business idea.
The journey so far
Hand embroidery was a skill I practiced and valued, but had never fully developed into a business.
I received my breast cancer diagnosis and began a demanding period of treatment and medical investigations.
I returned seriously to embroidery and began considering how my work could create honest income and help meet the practical burden of treatment.
PakSri began taking shape as an online store, starting with my own embroidery and a larger vision for Sri Lankan craft.
Not a story about pity
PakSri is not a request for sympathy. Every item represents time, concentration and care. Every purchase helps me continue working with dignity and greater financial independence while I undergo treatment. The support matters deeply, but so does the work itself. I want customers to choose PakSri because the pieces deserve to be chosen.
Vision beyond my own work
My ambition is for PakSri to grow beyond my embroidery. Sri Lanka has many talented artisans, skilled women and small producers whose work does not always reach the customers or markets it deserves. As PakSri develops, I hope to bring selected Sri Lankan products to customers around the world and create a platform where small businesses and craftspeople can receive fair value for what they make.
PakSri may have begun during a personal crisis, but I want its future to create opportunities for many others.
Artisans. Producers. Small businesses. Fair value for beautiful work.
What your order means
When you purchase from PakSri, you receive something made or selected with genuine care. At the same time, your order helps me:
Your purchase is not charity. It is an exchange of real value, with a human impact behind it.
From Nilmini
PakSri is what I have chosen to create: beautiful work, honest opportunity and hope shaped into something practical. Thank you for being part of its beginning.
— Nilmini, Founder of PakSri