The turning point in Taufiq Qureshi’s life was during his teenage years, when he realised that the future he hoped for would never unfold in the small village in Uttar Pradesh where he grew up. He left with a quiet but determined belief in himself, aware that staying back would only hold him back.
His journey in Mumbai was not an easy one. The city met him with its pace, its noise, and its unspoken expectations. The friends who had travelled with him to Mumbai slowly drifted away, leaving him alone to navigate a city that tested his resilience at every turn.“I learned to fend for myself through that adversity,” he recalls. Moving from one tailoring shop to another, he took on whatever work came his way, letting the craft anchor him in a city that rewarded persistence above everything else.
As the years passed, Taufiq Qureshi’s consistency and skill opened doors he could never have imagined at the beginning. He set up a shop of his own and, within a few years, was leading a team of thirty-five karigars. During this time, he met Shubhika Sharma and began collaborating with her - what started as small freelance projects gradually grew into a partnership built on trust and shared ambition.
Closing his shop to join Papa Don’t Preach full-time was not an easy decision for Taufiq Bhai. It meant stepping away from the independence he had worked so hard to achieve. At the same time, he also recognized that the brand offered a future aligned with the kind of work he wanted to contribute to. “I knew this place would grow,” he says. “And I wanted to help build it.” Thirteen years later, his presence remains central to the atelier - where luxury embellished wear by Papa Don’t Preachis brought to life through his and his team of artisans.
Today, he leads more than 150 karigars at the headquarters in Mumbai, embroidering handcrafted couture lehengas and creating artisan-made bridal couture. His presence has become a steady force within the atelier, one that is celebrated on every Papa Don’t Preach label with a proud ‘Embroidered by Taufiq Qureshi and Team’ .
In many ways, the community within the unit is a reflection of his values. He motivates his team through encouragement rather than pressure, helping them push their boundaries while honoring their individual paths. Under Taufiq Bhai’s guidance, the team works with discipline and care - strengthened each day by shared experiences and the quiet mastery of couture craft techniques.
Taufiq Qureshi’s story is a reminder that behind every piece of handcrafted bridal coutureat Papa Don’t Preach lies not just in technique, but the persistence and spirit of the people who bring it to life.
