Zen, which refers to a state of calm or peace, is what the Chief Executive Officer of Zen Events Surida Nagreadi was looking to give her customers when she created her company. The company’s ‘Sip & Paint’ events, where attendees taste wines and create paintings, have been met with success since they were first put on last year and they have in some way inspired Nagreadi’s latest initiative of paint packages for persons at home and, very soon, self-care baskets.
“Taking into consideration the pandemic, we know that this might not be contained in the coming weeks or months because we’re seeing more and more cases every day. So our events, which we usually do every month, are not going to be possible until this is all over… now that many persons are at home, persons are rotating shifts, some persons are home until further notice and some people are home indefinitely—I’m seeing persons on my social media pages who are saying they are bored, they don’t know what to do with all of this time and they are going bored out of their minds and I thought, this is what Zen Events is all about,” Nagreadi told Stabroek Weekend.
“We do things to give people new experiences, to help people to stay productive, to learn new skills and to bond and create memories. I figured, you know what, this is the perfect opportunity to give people a chance to do things that they probably haven’t done in a while or to try something new, to try their hands at painting. Because many persons haven’t tried acrylic painting on canvas before. A few persons had reached out to me and asked if I had in mind to do online classes and I thought we have a lot of the stuff and we won’t be able to use them until another couple of months so why not create kits that are affordable. People who have attended our events will know that the kits are half of the price that we charge at our events. Some people are not working and not everybody is going to afford it,” she added.
Many families have purchased the paint kits, Nagreadi explained, while noting that couples who bought the kits have shared that experiences of at home date nights. “It is just a great thing, honestly. I think this was one of our best decisions so far,” she said.
Though she doesn’t consider herself a professional artist, Nagreadi does know to paint and shares her own painting tips on the company’s Facebook page. At the company’s events, professionals are present to guide patrons.
While Nagreadi mulls whether to give online classes, Zen Events is currently offering tips on acrylic painting and colour mixing on its Facebook page as well as privately sharing painting techniques through calls and messages. One particular client has already reached out to tell Nagreadi that once being quarantined is over, she intends to attend the E.R. Burrowes School of Arts due to the interest ignited by the painting.
‘Away from the norm’
Next month will be a year since Nagreadi, a radio personality, founded Zen Events. “I was working pretty much four jobs a day. I was doing three radio programmes per day morning, lunch time and evening and I had a fulltime job as well. I also had a business, a gift shop and would on weekends offer craft classes like paper flower workshops as well as do mehndi designs,” she said.
Nagreadi’s hectic work schedule contributed to Surida embracing a therapeutic lifestyle—one she wanted others to experience as well. Zen Events was therefore birthed to promote self-care. The idea of this caught on really fast and soon enough, Zen Events was catering for no less than a hundred a twenty people at its events.
“Our events are away from the norm of life. Not everybody wants to go look at movies all the time or go out and party. Not everybody is about that life and we certainly proved that with Zen. You find so many families and couples attending… date nights have basically changed. People have been using our events to release their books and do book signings. At our last event, we had a young man proposing to his girlfriend so that is how much of a breath of fresh air Zen Events was. Because we have much more of an influx of tourists now and also the whole expat community and they’re looking for options that they are accustomed to doing in their countries, which is very limited here…,” Nagreadi said, before adding that this is also a great chance to make them feel at home as well as add to the variety of experiences Guyana is already offering.
Currently, supplies for the paint package are already running low but Nagreadi is already working on Zen Event’s self-care baskets that can come with scented candles, novels, journals, stylish pens and markers, luxury soaps, colouring books, bathing salts, facial masks, and body care products. The baskets ordered are be interchanged as persons so desire. The prices for these baskets can range from $5,000 to $20,000.
Aside from Sip & Paint, Zen Events planned children’s Spelling Bee competitions and Scavenger Hunt and Camping before the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak. Nagreadi, who is a lover of foods, also plans for her next Zen affair to be a crafted culinary experience that will have a small and intimate setting for about ten to twenty persons where a professional chef will be making the foods with those signed up.
Nagreadi, who was born in Venezuela but is a naturalised Guyanese, spent her first few years here living at Reliance, on the Essequibo Coast with her grandparents before moving to live on the West Coast Demerara where she still resides.
She considers herself an ambivert, which is someone who is both an introvert and extrovert. There are days when hanging with friends she’d be the most sociable and loudest one in the group and other times when she enjoys time away from people.
She attended the Saraswati Vidya Niketan and later graduated from the University of Guyana with a degree in International Relations. As a girl growing up, Nagreadi participated in many debates and chess competitions and won them. Mediocrity, she noted, was never something she could settle for. She said she has always wanted to pursue studies in law but has since put this on hold. As soon as she completed university, she said, she began working as a broadcaster.
Her hobbies include travelling, reading, cooking, gardening, trying new things, socialising, encouraging people to do more with their time and sleeping, which she lists as number one on her list of hobbies.
For painting kits or one of the Zen baskets, Nagreadi can be reached at 681-7874.