Homemakers Radhika Tapadia and Sangeeta Valdwa first met about 15 years ago. The two women from Sedam, Karnataka happened to visit a song and dance rehearsal for a festival organised by the Marwari community (that both belong to).

“Our children needed to be trained for the performances and for 20 days, Radhika and I met often during the rehearsals and that is how we became friends,” recalls 56-year-old Sangeeta.

Many tete-a-tetes led to the friends thinking of ways to make better use of their time. They had been wanting to try their hand at gardening and realised that Radhika had some ancestral land in Sedam that they could put to use.

“In 2008, we also began getting concerned about the food that was available in the market. We wanted fresh fruits and vegetables for our family and hence started growing them ourselves on that piece of land. The two of us were also really fond of roses and planted a few saplings,” recalls Sangeeta.

Those few rose saplings they planted bloomed over the years just like their friendship. Seeing the organic roses flowering abundantly, the homemakers-turned-business partners decided to make value-added products like gulkand, rose water, and rose preserve free from chemicals and preservatives.

With the growing popularity of the products that they made in their own kitchens, they decided to start their small enterprise in 2012 and later branded the products under the name Gulaboo.

Now, the friends and entrepreneurs sell over 11,000 units of their products in a year and earn anywhere between Rs 10 to 12 lakh annually for their business operations under Gulaboo. They also have a network of over 20 homemakers/franchisers in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana who buy their products and locally sell them.

Moreover, the homemakers also get orders from countries like Australia and Canada where their gulkand, dried rose petals, and rosebuds are popular. In conversation with The Better India (TBI), the homemakers share their enterprising entrepreneurial journey.

Farming Organic Roses to Starting a Business 

Sangeeta was born and raised in Hyderabad and completed her BA degree from Kasturba Gandhi College. She moved to Sedam when she got married at the age of 21. Radhika completed her education in BA from Mahatma Gandhi College in Ahmedpur, Maharashtra and moved to Sedam after her marriage.

They were both busy homemakers taking care of the household and as their children began growing up, they got more involved and participated in community organised events where they ultimately met.

The duo feels that Gulaboo is a result of their decision to cultivate Radhika’s ancestral land.

They started out by growing vegetables like spinach, fenugreek, lady finger, bitter gourd while also planting fruit trees like sapota, mangoes, Indian blackberry, and custard apple among others.

“But when it came to roses, we planted a few saplings and with cuttings, we would keep propagating the beautiful flower. We often used the rose petals at home for pujas but after a point, there were so many roses that we didn’t know what to do with them,” says Sangeeta.

The duo then decided to use the roses to make gulkand, a sweet preserve which is prepared using pink rose petals. This sweet delicacy is made in parts of India and Pakistan and is best consumed with a glass of milk. Additionally, it can also be used in rose-based desserts and is known to promote gut health.

The gulkand found many fans in family and friends. This is what urged them to set up Gulaboo. Over time, the production of fresh fruits and vegetables increased as well. They now sell freshly harvested veggies to homes in their locality through WhatsApp but not on a very large scale, informs Sangeeta.

“We also sell about 2,000 kg of organic sapota in a year. We are just happy that we are providing safe and chemical-free food for people to eat,” smiles Sangeeta.

Making Use of the Organic Roses

After the phenomenal response for the gulkand, the duo decided to start making rose syrup and rose water.

The duo grows roses on a three-acre farm and tends to them on a daily basis. “Although temperatures are really high in Sedam, these roses survive and grow well here. This is because we have chosen a variety grown in Rajasthan and naturally, they can sustain in hot temperatures too,” informs Sangeeta.

Every day, Radhika and Sangeeta collect these roses and get them home. The gulkand is made at home after the roses are properly cleaned. Then the rose petals are gently rubbed with sugar and sold in jars. They also employ two people full time who look after the farm and oversee the production of rose water in a small unit on the farmland.

“The gulkand becomes like this natural jam which looks pink when it is freshly made. Over time, the colour darkens but that is a natural process and it does not affect the taste or quality. In season time, we make almost 50 to 60 kg in a day and there is also good demand for it,” informs Sangeeta.

People from places far away from Sedam order Gulaboo’s products. Jaipur-based homemaker Nidhi Sodhani first tasted Gulaboo’s famous gulkand at her family home in Hyderabad three years back. Her mother had bought this from the duo in Sedam and after loving the taste, Nidhi has been frequently buying it too.

“I usually mix it with water or milk and drink it. It really cools your body during summers and is also good for the digestive system. I buy their products in bulk every four months. In fact, my young son loves their rose syrup too, and often drinks it with milk. The taste is so distinct for him that he can tell if I am using any other rose syrup,” explains the 32-year-old mom.

There are several other homemakers-cum-small time entrepreneurs across the country who resell Gulaboo’s products. Megha Rathi from Sholapur is one such example. The 32-year-old discovered Gulaboo about two years ago when the duo from Sedam had visited the town for an event and had set up a stall.

After tasting Gulaboo’s products, Nidhi herself asked the Sedam-based duo if she could buy the products in wholesale from them and resell them. And the duo agreed.

“The rose syrup and even the rose water does really well among the customers. The gulkand is a crowd favourite and every time there is any demand, I order from the Gulaboo and sell it here. I don’t even have to advertise anywhere. People themselves come and buy these products,” she informs.

Challenges and Future Plans

Having set up a venture in a small town without any business knowledge is not a piece of cake and the duo has had their own share of challenges.

“Initially when we started, a lot of people would judge and mock us as we live in a small town. They would assume that our business eventually would never take off. But, with hard work, we have established ourselves and this business. Now, people know us as the ‘Gulaboo ladies’. I feel good that people appreciate our work,” she says.

Additionally, having a small team and doing everything on their own can be really exhausting for the duo. “But, the sleep after a long tiring day is absolute bliss. In fact, it feels a little odd and we get restless when there is very little work to do,” says Sangeeta.

From her own learning curve, she has a few words of encouragement for other budding entrepreneurs and especially homemakers.

“I would tell other homemakers that you can do anything that you set your mind to. We went from two plants to 10,000 plants. And we never really started out thinking we would set up a business. So, if one really wishes to start a business, I think one can even do better (than we did). Remember that you can achieve anything,” she says.

Sangeeta shares that they plan on increasing their rose products. They have already experimented with rose ice creams, cookies, chocolates and even soaps which have done well. In fact, they get bulk orders from clients who especially order their rose soaps and chocolates to be presented in hampers at occasions like weddings. Sangeeta says that they plan on manufacturing this at a larger scale in the future.

“We started out with farming. Gulaboo happened because of our interest and the need to make good use of our time. This wasn’t for any fame or money but to find a purpose. In the future, we want to continue doing what we do and make natural products available for everyone,” she says signing off.

Rapid-fire:
*An entrepreneur you admire.
Ans: Prajakta Kale who is known for her Bonsai plants

*New tech that can transform the future of small businesses
Ans: Social Media platforms

*One value that can help small businesses thrive
Ans: Sincerity and devotion towards one’s work

*In my free time, I ____…
Ans: run off to work at the farm with Radhika

* Before this interview, I was ____…
Ans: drinking tea

* A message for your past self about small businesses
Ans: Don’t think so much before starting anything

*Best advice you ever got is ____…
Ans: If you have the will to accomplish something, do it

(Edited by Saiqua Sultan)

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Parenting doesn’t come with a manual, but I learnt a lot when I became a first-time mother. It was a great feeling — he was someone that I had to keep healthy and happy forever. I was a quick learner and figured out the drill pretty soon, starting with diapering.

I always leaned towards ‘natural parenting’ and listened to my mother and mother-in-law for advice on infant care. My predisposition to all things natural, coupled with the fact that my baby was prone to allergies and rashes just strengthened my resolve to cloth diapering.

And that’s what started my quest for the perfect cloth diaper.

Modern Cloth Diapers (MCDs)

My first child was born in the US, where several cloth diaper brands were available to us. These Modern Cloth Diapers (MCDs) had styles and designs to choose from, and they served different needs (night time, heavy wetter, etc.).

Cloth diapering with MCDs seemed like the right choice. These were a tad better than the average langots we saw in India. There was some thought that went behind the choice of fabric, the one-size-fit-all and they claimed to work like any other disposable while being rash-free and leak-proof — the only two features in a diaper that mattered.

I started with a small stash of MCDs and enjoyed the process. At first, I was just happy to do my bit for the planet. It was reassuring to know I was being green and leaving a better world behind for my children.

Not as Convenient

MCDs seemed convenient when we started our cloth diapering journey. It was easy to do once you got used to the routine.  But there if anything went wrong — one would have to start all over again. For example, if the baby was sick, the piles of laundry (not to mention the smell of used cloth diapers) quickly became overwhelming.

The commitment was challenging to maintain. To truly convert to cloth, one had to have an ever-ready ‘stash’ of at least 8-10 cloth diapers with different sized inserts (an absorbent layer put inside the diaper) at all times. And they weren’t cheap.

Another issue that I was facing with cloth was that of leaks. It takes some time to find the right fit — especially in the ‘one-size-fits-all’ variety. And by the time you figure out a setting, the baby grows out of it. So, leaks were inevitable in several scenarios, often leaving me to figure out where I went wrong.

There was also the additional laundry time, needed to clean and wash cloth diapers.

Even on the ‘being green’ front, things were not as bright as they first appeared. I later learnt that cloth diapers consume a lot of groundwater during production thanks to their use of Polyurethane Laminate (PUL). Also, some of the trims on the cloth were imported, adding to the overall carbon footprint. And all that additional washing added detergent and softeners to the groundwater. All this and more increased the greenhouse gases that these diapers generated.

Deflecting to Commercial Disposables

The final blow came when I moved back to India with my 8-month-old. Delhi’s groundwater is ‘hard’, i.e. contains high mineral content. That, coupled with the heat, impacted the core functionality of my diaper – increasing leaks and rashes.

So MCDs did not work for me in the long run. I would often shift back to commercial disposable diapers. Initially, it was while going out and night-time diapering. But eventually, I was using disposable diapers throughout the day.

While the convenience of disposables was a hard habit to break, I wasn’t able to deal with the guilt I felt over the amount of trash I generated daily.

To reduce toxic waste, I tried to turn to imported biodegradable disposables diapers.

However, over time I learnt that not only was the process of bio-degrading waste not adequately implemented in India, but our waste management system also did not allow to separate organic and inorganic waste. And the disposables were exorbitantly priced to boot.

My search for options continued.

Converting to Hybrid Diapers

Hybrid Diapers are simply diapers that separated into covers (the outer layer with designs) and soakers (the absorbent inserts). These diapers sit on the spectrum between a disposable and a cloth diaper, hence the word ‘hybrid’.

Hybrids brought with them the best of both worlds between cloth and disposables. The cloth took away the guilt of generating excessive waste, and the insert made the diapering process less bulky. There are several brands which sell both reusable and disposable inserts as well, reducing that worry also.

They seemed like the perfect option. Hybrids were more comfortable to use and learn, required less washing, and fit better than regular MCDs.  They were also cheaper than regular MCDs and needed a smaller ‘stash’ to make them work.

Health of Cloth and the Convenience of Disposables

The hybrids available in India were not entirely convenient. A significant issue was that the covers came with snaps that could hold only the inserts that came with that particular cover. But I liked hybrids and wasn’t going to give on them. So I finally decided to stick to the hybrids, but only after I came up with a solution myself.

That is when I designed ‘Bdiapers’, a hybrid diaper with a patented 2-part pouch system that separated the ‘cloth’ from the ‘diaper’. Bdiapers are sold with washable and disposable inserts which makes it convenient; reduces washing and encourages reuse. And the pouch system makes it easier to secure any type of insert (home-made included) – making it one of the healthiest diapering options in India.

While the pouch system reduces washing and water wastage, the inserts encourage proper waste disposal. You need to toss away solids in the toilet bowl before wrapping these in paper and disposing of them like any other non-biodegradable separated waste, like say, a sanitary napkin.

To sum up, hybrid diapers worked best for me, and I have been committed to bringing these to other moms who are always looking for an alternative to disposables and are not able to commit fully to the cloth.

While diapering is an essential part of our parenting journey, it is vital to figure out a system that works best with your temperament, predisposition and the health of your child. I hope this journey helps you make the right choice for you.

Amrita Vaswani is a mother of 2 boys, 4 & 9 years old, and the owner of Bdiapers, India’s only Hybrid Diaper with Chemical Free Disposable bio-soakers. Amrita is a passionate advocate of Organic, Natural and Eco-Friendly Parenting

—-
The views expressed in this article are that of the writer’s and do not reflect the opinions or position of The Better India.

Image courtesy: Bdiapers

(Edited by Sruthi Radhakrishnan & Vinayak Hegde)

As a society, there is a lot of emphasis placed on being honest and direct, especially with one’s needs and wants. But this is not the case for most women. Growing up, we are often encouraged to lie or to express themselves through metaphors for anything related to our bodies. From school to a workplace, everytime we need to take a day off because we’re on our period, we need to mask the request as a headache, stomach ache, or even concoct a vague illness.

Menstrual taboos play a huge role in this, leave alone the fact that in a school or college, with adolescents everywhere, it can be uncomfortable for many girls and women to talk about their periods. I remember facing numerous such instances where I had to whisper my condition in desperation to the strict female teacher, fearing that the boy sitting on the front bench might just hear.

Be it buying sanitary napkins from a pharmacy wrapped in a newspaper (or that black plastic bag, which is the only thing common between liquor and sanitary napkins), or the recurrent act of asking your friend to check the back for your clothes for any bloodstains, there is a constant anxiety of being subjected to shame associated with menstruation.

But in the last few years, informed and sensitive conversations on periods on public platforms have brought a wave of change that has not only dispelled various myths and taboos around it but more importantly has helped shed the shame, to some extent. After centuries of being shrouded in ignominy, it is finally being seen as is, not a disease or a disability but a phenomenon in a cis-woman’s life.

And that is why the debate that emerged out of a recent development — food delivery company, Zomato announcing introduction of period leaves — is so very important. The company claims it to be a move to encourage sensitivity in the workspace and quell any shame or stigma associated with it. While many welcome it, others critique it saying that its implementation would adversely affect employment opportunities of women, to an extent of sabotaging years of fight to their equality, especially in the professional space.

To address this discourse, we spoke to three women who have experienced working in companies that successfully implemented menstrual leaves, even before Zomato’s announcement. Addressing the major points of contention, they share their thoughts, concerns and hopes of making workspaces inclusive.

“Despite our gender, our bodies are not the same”

36-year-old Hemambika Kt works as a senior creative producer, at Culture Machine. A Mumbai-based digital media company, Culture Machine was one of the first in India, to offer voluntary menstrual leaves by adopting the First Day of Period (FOP) leave system back in 2017. Since then, they have filed several petitions in different Ministries to implement FOP leaves across India.

Having worked there for three years now, Hemambika says, “It was quite a coincidence, because on the very next day of joining the company I got my period and they are usually very painful. So I had to rush and ask for a leave, only to be told that they had just launched the FOP system and I was about to be the first to avail it. Since then, many of my colleagues and I have availed it whenever necessary and truth be told, there is no doubt that on days when the pain threshold is crossed, most commonly on the first days, this leave comes as a huge respite to us.”

While all her colleagues have been supportive of the FOP system within the company, the Zomato period leaves have created quite a stir across social media, with some women coming forward to question the need for it.

Devleena Sanyal Majumder (45), one of the people to introduce FOP and a former employee of Culture Machine says, “Firstly, these are optional leaves that can be either taken or not, based on the employee’s need and choice. And those who are critiquing its requirement, need to understand that despite our gender, our bodies are not the same and so our experiences with periods are also not always the same. Ranging from severe period pain, heavy bleeding, cramps to conditions like endometriosis, PCOS and so on, affect menstruating women that make those few days of the month exceptionally hard. These leaves not only acknowledge a woman’s needs but also ensure that employees feel safe and heard. That is an important requirement of a healthy work environment.”

Several studies speak about the severity of period pain, while this report even equates it with having a heart attack in some cases. Professor John Guillebaud of University College London, Institute for Women’s Health in his research says that one out of five women suffer from dysmenorrhea, also referred to as menstrual cramps.

A former chief of staff and now founder of an HR consulting company called Lean People Consulting, Devleena adds that instead of loss of productivity, leaves like this only increase employee efficiency.

27-year-old Shruti Chaturvedi, founder of another media organisation, Chaaipani, agrees. “Making someone work through the pain is not only horrible but also sets a wrong precedent for the entire work culture. Moreover, if you want your employees to give their best, they first need to be at their best healthwise,” she says.

Although, most companies in India do not have a specific leave assigned for periods, a majority of women employees working there often consume their regular paid leaves or sick leaves to cater to their needs during menstruation. In this regard, Hemambika points out that this is not an ideal situation and is done out of desperation and should not be acceptable.

“Why should we consume our sick leaves because we are on our period? This is not a sickness or illness. Sick leaves are to be taken when someone falls sick suddenly, not during a natural process that takes place every single month. Imagine if one ends up consuming all their sick leaves for periods and then is left with none when they are actually sick,” she says.

“If a woman chooses to work on the day of her periods, there is no shame in that, just like there should not be any shame if she chooses to take a day off on the same day,” Hemambika adds.

Equality VS Equity

Another criticism towards menstrual leaves is the alleged threat to gender equality. The common concern is that menstrual leaves will breed a sense of disparity and adversely affect employment opportunities of women.

To that Hemambika says, “What is equality really? It is not about blurring the distinction between various genders, communities or ideologies. Instead, it is about acceptance and accomodation. It is about a deep-seated respect for both the similarities and the dissimilarities that exist between people with polarising anatomies or belief systems or ideologies. It is about inclusivity and providing the space and opportunities to flourish and celebrate the dissimilarities without any discrimination.”

An employer herself, Shruti emphasises that gender equality in the workplace is achieved through equal and impartial opportunities, on an equal footing.

“In our organisation, we follow a special mail format to inform other team members about our absence due to periods. If need be, anyone on periods can take an off without having to justify. When I put up a post about this practice on social media, many male professionals came forward questioning it as an impartial move. My response to that was simple, for equality both the parties need to be on the same page, so if men would’ve menstruated, they would’ve also been given these leaves. Unlike what people are saying, this is not an extra thing, but a minimum that we can do to help women be their best self and increase productivity.

“As an employer, I have a simple mantra, if you trust your employees, they will trust you back. But if they cheat or lie about such things, then the problem is not them, but you. The rot then is in the system you are following,” she adds.

Shruti believes that much like maternity leaves, this too should become a norm and the concern about reduced hiring of women due to this is rather a dark reflection of the work environment and ethics. “Don’t question the positive move with concerns of discrimination against women, because the problem then is with the companies using this as a excuse to deny gender diversity in their company.”

In agreement, Devleena points out that away from the limelight, many prominent companies including Tata Steel also have provisions for menstrual leaves. More companies are realising the positive impact of such a move and in the days to come she hopes to see it normalised just like maternity leaves.

It is true that women have fought hard for representation in all the sectors and for their voices to be heard. But does acknowledging the reality that menstruation can lead to pain make us weak? In the fight towards a traditional sense of equality, is it correct to be oblivious to our reality?

As an answer to these questions, Hemambika says, “There have been many days when I had to stay on my feet continuously for 18-19 hours straight during a shoot, and have efficiently completed many tasking jobs. Women across the world have done the most difficult of jobs when required and have proven their mettle and so this is a breather we deserve if we want to take it. But at the core, we all need to realise that we are much more than just one or two days of period leaves. We bring much more to the table and deserve everything and more.”

(Edited By Gayatri Mishra)

Sarayu Mohanachandran, an IAS officer, and a native of Kerala who is currently posted in Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris district, recently wrote an emotional Facebook post describing the hardships her mom, Khadeeja, had faced while raising their family.

Taking to Facebook after her mother’s Osteoporosis diagnosis, she wrote about how Khadeeja had toiled day and night to fulfill familial and professional responsibilities, often neglecting her own health. In the midst of helping her family achieve their dreams, she also found time to pursue her passion — law — and obtained an LLB degree. “After her retirement, without further delay, she shocked us by enrolling as an advocate,” writes Sarayu.

Ending the note, Sarayu expresses guilt that her mother, like many others, did not live the life she deserved.

“I feel guilty when I look back. I realise now that I should not have laughed when my father used to make fun of my mother for not reading books. I understand now that she did not read so that we could read more…”

Here is a translation of the original Malayalam post to her mom:

It has been three years since knee pain started disturbing my mother.

Despite that, my mother kept running around after eating pills. She didn’t break my dad’s naughty food habits or her grandson’s naughtiness.

The pain was getting worse. But I tried to postpone going to the hospital fearing COVID. My sister rushed to help at home.

But now the pain would not leave my mom. Finally, they went to Amrita Hospital.

Her knees, which have been running around for us, are very painful. That’s why she can’t sleep at night.

The doctors say both her knees have deteriorated by 40%, and that a knee replacement surgery is the only solution.

Due to the situation, the doctor gave her an injection for interim relief and sent her back.

These legs are all worn out for us. My mother’s daily routine, for the last 40 years, began by giving black tea to Appa, who will be reading the newspaper in the morning. Then, like a machine, she would make curry, rice, warm water, and then clean the yard.

We would try to help her, but my mother would work with as if she had a hundred hands to finish it before she went to work.

After reaching home from her office, she would run to the kitchen. Once those chores were done, she would sit with any pending files from her office.

Meanwhile, I am the one who disturbed my mother the most. More than half of the 40% osteoporosis has to be thanks to me.

Despite all that, when I in second grade, my mother enrolled in LLB also!

Mother would do everything for my siblings and me. She would drop us at different locations so that I could take part in quiz competitions and she would buy every book I asked.

When I began preparing for the IAS, only my mother believed in me. I was daunted by the mock test thanks to the low marks I scored and the vast syllabus that I hadn’t studied yet. But my mother stood with me. She would say, “If you don’t crack it, who else can?”

Even though I got into the service, my mom’s duties didn’t reduce. My mom would run along with my transfer orders, after getting my stuff packed and then making sure it re-settled properly in the new destination.

Though every posting had a house and kitchen, my mother would teach my favourite dishes to my caretakers at home.

After her retirement, my mother shocked us again by enrolling as a lawyer.

I feel guilty when I look back. My mom was a member of the college union, but because of us, my mother didn’t get the life she deserved. There were so many good writings my mother had to write.

We shouldn’t have laughed when my dad made fun of her when she could not find time to read a book.

Now, I have realised that my mother didn’t read so that we could.

May her pain be relieved, and may she come back as a Miduki (smart woman), wear a lawyer’s gowns and start practising, write about her revolutionary love story.

(Edited by Gayatri Mishra. With inputs from Ranjith KR)

Dipali Bhattacharyya is an early bird. As a homemaker, entrepreneur and founder of Prakrity, a brand of homemade pickles and snacks, she likes to start her day at the crack of dawn and plan. She then goes on to make her take on ‘toast pitha’. Pitha is a traditional snack of Assam, and in her healthy version, instead of frying them in a pan, she bakes the mixture of rice flour, desiccated coconut and jaggery. She supplies about 50 of these toast pithas every day to a sweet shop nearby.

As a woman who loves experimenting with recipes, she has developed 25 different kinds of pickles. The more interesting ones are a turmeric-coconut pickle and even a mushroom pickle. All her products are handmade, and her daughter, Suditree Devya, helps her in business operations.

In a month, Dipali sells about 200 bottles of her pickles, not just in Guwahati but in other parts of the country such as Bengaluru, and Delhi to name a few. The homemaker-entrepreneur earns close to Rs. 5,00,000 in a year.

“My husband had thought of the name Prakrity when we would talk of starting a home business. He had always been supportive of my entrepreneurial endeavours, and this was my way of keeping his memory alive,” says Dipali, her inner light dimming as she reminisces about her husband who passed away in 2003.

In conversation with The Better India (TBI), the home entrepreneur from Assam shares her journey, which stemmed from a personal loss.

From Homemaker To An Entrepreneur 

Dipali had always been popular among her family and friends for her pickles. But she registered her firm in 2015 after her husband’s death pushed her to pursue her business with greater vigour.

“In 2003, my husband suffered a heart attack and passed away. He was only 40 years old. He was a teacher at Asom Jatiya Vidyalaya in Assam; he taught maths, science and music to the children. He was very talented and was into theatre, and had written several children’s books. After he passed away, I lived with my mother-in-law and daughter, who was only nine years old at the time,” she recalls.

The homemaker took charge of her life and thought of ways to make ends meet, especially to raise Suditree. She participated in small-time cooking competitions and won several of them. Often, she would win cash rewards or articles like kitchen utensils.

With an initial investment of Rs. 10,000, Dipali worked towards building Prakrity. Her handmade pickles became the main attraction of her startup. Soon, pickles of garlic, methi seeds, tamarind, mango, bamboo shoot, bhut jolokia (ghost chilli), chicken and fish became crowd favourites.

She also came up with a range of ready-to-eat jolpan (breakfast) — a mix of rice powder, banana powder, puffed rice, flat rice, milk powder and sugar. Moreover, the multi-faceted home entrepreneur is well known for her dahi vadas and other kinds of pitha that one can place an order for.

Inspirations and Life in Assam

Although Dipali is based in Guwahati right now with her daughter Suditree, she was born and brought up in Jorhat, over 300 km away. She pursued her Bachelor’s in Arts degree from Devicharan Baruah College (DCB) there. After she graduated in 1986, she got married in 1990 and moved to Guwahati.

So, who taught her how to make her bestselling pickles?

“I always saw my father deeply involved in his spice business. My family had a brand called Gondhoraj Masalas. After my father passed away, my mother took over, and after that, it was my brother. But after he passed away too, we shut that business. However, I still remember how these unique spices were used to make the delicious pickles we ate at home. I would watch the process of making these very closely, and that is how I learnt,” says Dipali.

She adds that her mother-in-law was also a great cook, and, from her, she learnt some valuable cooking techniques like blending various combinations of spices for the pickles, which she continues to use to date.

In 1998, Dipali started a small food delivery business from home. She bought a scooter and employed a man who would deliver the orders. A great cook, Dipali saw that people began loving her dahi vadas, sambar vadas, idlis and aloo chops.

This came to a halt after her husband’s demise although she continued to sell her pickles in a small way. People would either directly buy the pickles from Dipali or the shops near her home.

Participating in several small-time cooking competitions benefitted her greatly. In one instance, the Coconut Development Board (CDB), which has an office in Guwahati, recognised her brilliant efforts in adding value to coconut-based products. This landed her an opportunity in 2005 where she was selected for a CDB-sponsored training programme.

As part of the training, she travelled to Kochi, Kerala, where she stayed for 10 days and learnt how to make coconut sweets, jam, toffee, cakes, ice-cream and even pickles. The trip inspired one of her best-selling products — the turmeric-coconut pickle.

After she came back to Assam, she began to share her learnings with several other women, mostly homemakers like herself. These classes were conducted regularly in collaboration with the CDB. This helped her sustain through difficult times.

Until 2012, she would also submit articles to Assamese magazines such as Nandini and Sakhi that primarily catered to women. Here, she would share tips on how one could cook a delicious meal on a budget while also sharing her recipes. She was also working towards developing Prakrity as a brand and formally registered it in 2015. Her products have FSSAI certification.

Delicious Pickles from her Home Kitchen

Dipali says that her kitchen at home is the centre of all activities for Prakrity.

She doesn’t have a set recipe for any of these pickles and often improvises. The packaging, too, happens at home. She has gotten several labels printed out, and bottles are sourced from a vendor. There is also a sealing machine, and Suditree helps her with the operations and increasing Prakrity’s social media presence.

Other than that, Dipali says that participating in expos and exhibitions has helped her reach out to several people, some of whom are loyal customers now.

Anuj Yadav, a software engineer based out of Guwahati, discovered Prakrity at an exhibition at Maniram Dewan Trade Centre in December last year. The 40-year-old was first attracted to the unique toast pitha and decided to buy the chicken and fish pickles as well. Now, he is a regular customer of these two pickles and occasionally orders others such as the sweet mango pickle and the turmeric-coconut pickle.

“The best thing about these pickles is that they taste like homemade ones. What happens with many store-bought pickles is that they are oily and spicy. But Prakrity’s pickles are nothing like that. These taste simple, delicious, and I love eating them with rotis and paranthas. Their customer service, too, I must say, is very prompt and professional, which I feel sets them apart from others,” he says.

Finding Strength In Family

Dipali shares a deep bond with Suditree. The mother-daughter duo has faced deep losses together and has been each other’s support system. Suditree began helping her mother with Prakrity in 2012. Dipali emphasises that it had come as a huge relief to her.

Suditree quit her career as an electronics engineer after working in the telecom sector for two years after she graduated in 2015.

“As I am technically more skilled, I am helping out my mother managing the brand on Facebook and Instagram, and growing the business online. This is helping us spread the word about the brand,” says Suditree who works as a freelance digital content writer.

Suditree also runs an e-commerce website (with a friend) that specialises in selling products (including Prakrity’s) from the North-East.

The versatile 27-year-old does all the photoshoots of the products and has been closely watching her mother make these pickles by hand.

Overcoming Hurdles and Looking Forward

Dipali’s entrepreneurial journey, like many others’, has been anything but a piece of cake. Setting up a business in personally turbulent times is commendable, and after overcoming those obstacles, she shares with us a few challenges she had faced.

“Since there aren’t too many people involved in business operations, it becomes very hectic. But, in this entire process, my daughter has been super helpful. I feel like she has been one of my biggest rewards,” says the proud entrepreneur and mom.

Suditree, on the other hand, is deeply inspired by her mother. “Because I lost my father at an early age, I was with my granny and my mother. I have seen my mother struggle and how she has managed everything. From taking care of me to doing all of the housework and juggling the home business, she has been exceptional. Her hard work has been a lesson, and from her, I have learned to build confidence and never give up,” she shares.

Having grown because of her challenges, Dipali also has a few words of wisdom for home entrepreneurs like herself.

“The best advice I can give is to follow your pursuits relentlessly. Your products should have value, and you must be brave to fulfil your dreams. Don’t care about what others think, and you may not be able to make a lot of money in the early days. But work on building a name for yourself. They should know you for the work you do,” she says.

So, what lies ahead for Prakrity and Dipali?

Dipali says that she is looking forward to introducing some new pickles. She is currently working on developing a new recipe for a sweet amla pickle while also working towards making a fresh batch of mushroom pickles, as there is a good demand for that.

“I have been fooled and cheated several times, but my hard work has helped me land on my feet. I want people to be inspired and understand that with persistence and honesty, one can achieve anything. And I want to make Prakrity a well-loved household brand of pickles,” she signs off.

Rapid-fire:
*An entrepreneur you admire.
Ans: Mala Moni Hazarika from Kamdhenu Foods

*New tech that can transform the future of small businesses
Ans: Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram

*One value that can help small businesses thrive
Ans: Hard work

*Your favourite book
Ans: Books written by Rita Chowdhury

*In my free time, I ____…
Ans: tend to my beautiful garden

* Before this interview, I was ____…
Ans: in my vegetable garden picking kosu xaak (Taro root leaves) to make a delicious sabzi during lunch

* A message for your past self about small businesses
Ans: Seize every opportunity that comes your way

*Best advice you ever got is ____…
Ans: to pursue my passion and creativity in earnest.

To buy Prakrity’s products, check them out on Facebook and Instagram.

(Edited by Saiqua Sultan)

Like this story? Or have something to share?
Write to us: contact@thebetterindia.com
Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

In the time of social media, where the world is in your palm, starting a business at home is certainly easier. But take a minute and imagine what it would have been like to start one before your network could like and share your work.

Ila Prakash Singh started her home catering and baking enterprise in an era before you could tap into the amazing potential of social media virality. Ila, who is almost 48 now, remembers her struggles in her initial days, the challenges she faced and how the advent of social media gave her home baking business new wings.

A hotel management graduate from Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration (WGSHA) in Manipal, Ila started her home bakery venture Truffle Tangles in Gurugram in 2007.

What started with an initial investment of approximately Rs 5,000 has grown exponentially, and, today, Ila makes about Rs 10,000 a day.

Today, she delivers over 40 varieties of bakery products such as cakes, cookies, chocolates, gluten free bread, desserts, artisanal bread; savoury items such as patty, stuffed buns, pizzas, and even curated gift hampers across NCR.

The Genesis of Truffle Tangles

After graduating from Manipal, Ila spent a decade working in the hospitality industry. She started her career in Bengaluru at the Windsor Manor Shertaon Hotel, spent two years working at Chola Sheraton in Chennai, and then moved on to Taj Bengal in Calcutta where she spent close to five years, in the Sales and Marketing division.

“It was the rigorous training that I received there that has helped me with my work.” Eventually, Ila got married and took a break to start a family. Subsequently, with her husband moving to Gurugram, she followed suit with six-month-old twins in tow.

For two-and-a-half years after the birth of her sons, Ila stayed at home and took care of them. “I did so many things before I ventured into cooking and baking,” she says. From multi-level marketing gigs to working with Amway, Oriflame, and many such others, somewhere along the way Ila realised that those weren’t her cup of tea.

The itch to get back to working in her domain and being productive kept surfacing in Ila.

It was a chance conversation with friend and neighbor Manmeet Kumar that led to the start of this journey for Ila. “I had worked with Ila at the Taj, and knew how passionate she was about her work. A few years later when I met her in Gurugram, it was after the birth of her twins and I remember a conversation in which she spoke strongly about wanting to do something.”

It was this chance conversation with Manmeet that sowed the seeds in Ila to become an entrepreneur. “I knew she would be successful because she is very meticulous about creating memories and experiences with food – for her customer satisfaction was very important. She was not someone who was meant to sit at home and I am happy to see her growth,” says Manmeet.

Babysteps

“With no menu and pretty much no concrete plan, I started my business,” she says. Armed with posters she made herself, she set out to start work. “I took out all the recipes that I used to work on during my days at Windsor Manor Sheraton and that was how I started,” she says, recollecting how all her advertising was homegrown.

“I used to go around my apartment complex and stick flyers with my contact details on it,” she says.

Initially, Ila catered to various birthday parties, she would do the complete menu, which included food and cakes. Many of the orders were from within her apartment complex which gave her the confidence to venture out and open up her business a little more.

A Chance For The Patisserie To Grow

Ila says, “This was also a time when there were hardly any dedicated patisseries in town and that helped my cause. My chocolate truffle cakes started doing really well. And that was pretty much how I started working on baking.”

Some of the bestsellers at Ila’s Truffle Tangles include truffle cake, fruit cakes, walnut brownie, the plum cake that she churns out every December, the stuffed buns, pizzas, and her signature Mishtidoi cheesecake.

Stalls – A Great Marketing Hack

Ila realised very early on that being able to serve her clients and interact directly with them was something she enjoyed. She started participating in various melas and exhibitions across Gurugram, which gave her good visibility.

“Just meeting the people that I had put in all that hard work for made me very happy. In one season, I would do almost 10 stalls, and the time I would take to make the goodies for one stall was almost three days. So do the math,” she says and chuckles.

“It is a lot of hard work to churn out the good stuff,” she says. All this was being done at a time when Ila only owned a built-in oven and one hand mixer. “You are taking me back and making me think of how I ever did everything I did,” she recalls with a smile.

Why A Home-Baker?

While Ila could have chosen to work outside the home, she chose to start her venture from home to be able to be around when her twin boys were growing up. “They were tiny tots when I started my business and for me to be around was super important,” she says. In doing so she was able to enjoy every small moment that her boys went through. “Those are priceless moments, and not for a moment do I regret my decision,” she says.

There were several opportunities to scale up, start classes, and expand the business, but, all throughout, Ila chose to work at her own pace to be able to spend time with her boys.

But that did not mean that work was easy.

Raison d’etre

“There are days when I work for almost 16 hours at a stretch to churn out all the goodies,” she says. It’s gratifying but also a rather tough business to be in. Ila is a stickler for detail and perfection, and hence is a one-woman-army, who does everything from preparation to proofing to the actual baking by herself. “I cannot remember the last time I took a break,” she says. In almost the same breath, she continues,, “Even if I did take a break, I wonder what I would do.”

As a former hospitality professional, Ila was used to long hours and strenuous work. “Independence came fairly early on to me. At my first job in Bangalore, I was the only woman amongst all the men at Windsor Manor Sheraton,” she recollects. The long hours, the intense training, and the discipline that the early jobs instilled in Ila are things that have shaped her journey.

Today, she spends between eight to fifteen hours a day baking and cooking, depending on how many orders she has for the day. “The lockdown period, when most businesses were going through a lull, was when I was working the most and the hardest,” she says.

Kavery Ganguly, a client who discovered Ila during the lockdown says, “I cannot be more thankful for having discovered Ila. As a family, we do not like going out too much; the lockdown further pushed us into staying at home. Ila and her food has been a true revelation during this period.” The walnut brownies and the breads that Ila bakes are a big hit at the Ganguly household.

Having ordered from Ila, she says that not just her attention to detail but the honesty she brings to her work is what is commendable. “Ila, unlike many other professional bakers I have met, does not try to sell her food in any way. She is honest and tells you clearly how much you should be ordering.”

From Kosha Mangsho to Mishtidoi cheesecake

Debangshu Das, who has known Ila for over a decade, says, “We, my wife and I, became fans of Ila’s cooking way before all this Facebook came into being. Today, if there is an occasion to order, we only call Ila.”

There was a time when both Das and his wife were unwell and he recollects being pampered by homemade, nutritious, appetizing food. “From the Kosha Mangsho to the cakes and patties, we have tried it all.” When asked about a family favourite, he is quick to mention the mishtidoi cheesecake, which he says perfectly brings together the traditional mishtodoi taste and that of a cheesecake.

The Wind Beneath Her Wings

Like it is often said about women being silent supporters in their husband’s success, Ila found that support in her husband, Raaj. “Other than my own work, I did not need to lift a finger for the housework, especially during the lockdown period. From managing the laundry, to taking care of the boys, helping them with their academics, cleaning the house, putting together breakfast, and managing the house – the boys and Raaj do it all,” she says.

During the lockdown period, Raaj also managed the deliveries for Ila. “All through the lockdown period, Raj has been the one to take the food out for delivery,” she says adding that she has done everything to make her life and work easier – having invested in every gadget possible. dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, a robot to clean the house, and floor mops of all shapes and sizes. All it requires is for someone to work it and that reduces the burden on her.

Stress is a particular bedfellow of parents. Having started a home business with the express reason of being around her children. Ila still hears her boys complain. Her boys have often told Ila that she is not there for them. “They are free from school over the weekends, but that happens to be the busiest days for me and I am not available for them,” she says with a tinge of sadness in her voice. “It is the flip side of what I do. I cannot say no to any work that comes my way. I am built that way,” she says.

“Always do the right thing – even if it takes you time to get to your final destination, do it right,” is what Ila’s father always said to her and these are the words that she started her business with and continues to follow.

If one were to put a finger on the reason why Ila has courted success, it has to be her attention to detail and the commitment she brings to her work. If you would like to place an order or reach out to Ila, you can reach her via her Facebook page here or call at +91-9818227512. Truffle Tangles does pan-India delivery, so call now.

(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)

As a country that accommodates so much diversity, there is so much we can learn from different cultures. And, the clothes that one wears is a reflection of the tradition of that particular region. Indigenous weaves are colourful, handmade, and truly fascinating.

And one among the fantastic varieties India contains is the ‘Puan’. The Puan is a traditionally woven piece of clothing from Mizoram, that is extremely versatile.

Women most often wear it as a skirt. At the same time, the ‘Puak Puan’ is a variation of the Puan, which is tied around as a sling to carry a baby.

And Malsawmtluangi Hmar, a homemaker turned entrepreneur and founder of ‘Zo Weave‘, is one of the best people around to know all you need to know about this ancient and incredible art.

Malsawmi, as she is commonly addressed, had always been surrounded by these traditional weaves as her mother and aunts would often get ‘Puans’ customised for themselves. In addition, trips with her father kept her interest burning bright.

“My father was in the civil services, and through him, I was exposed to different villages. There, we would speak with artisans and weavers. Even as a teenager, I would see my aunts and other homemakers practice making Puan on the loin loom for extra income,” recalls the 36-year-old and mother of four now.

The loin loom is a system to weave thin strips of cloth, about 18 inches wide. Traditionally, the women in Mizoram would all learn the technique and weave cloth as part of their daily routine.

Malsawmi’s exposure and understanding of traditional loin loom weave throughout her life inspired her so much that she founded ‘Zo Weave’ in 2017.

“The reason why we have named it Zo Weave is that we work with weavers from different villages who belong to different tribes under the ‘Zo Umbrella’,” informs Malsawmi.

Watch this video to check out how the Puak Puan is tied as a baby sling.

Initially, Malsawmi began working in a few homemakers who were also loin loom weavers to produce beautifully woven Puak Puan and Puan. Today, they have a network for 63 weavers across the state. Malsawmi informs that so far, Zo Weave has sold over 1000 units of Puak Puan. They have also sold over 1000 Puans. Additionally, they also launched their range of table runners and shawls which are also all handwoven by artisans.

All the pieces are handwoven on the loin loom, and the patterns are reflective of modern design rooted in tradition. The designs and quality are so well-loved that northeasterners who live abroad in the UK and the US have also bought these Puan and Puak Puan, arranging the shipping through relatives.

How it all began

Malsawmi was born and brought up in Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram. She moved to Delhi in 2003 to pursue her Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Indraprastha College in Delhi University. While she was in second year of college, she got married and finally finished her degree in 2006.

After living in Delhi with her husband until 2009, they moved to Singapore for a year and returned to Delhi again. Her husband’s transfer brought her back to Mizoram in 2014. By then, she was the mother of two children.

“When I moved back to Mizoram, we would often get invited to weddings and other events. For these, I always wanted to wear Puans that were customised. You see, for us, the Puan is like a prized possession. So, I would visit weavers in Aizawl, give them my design and yarn that I had bought from the market. They would weave these beautiful Puans for me,” informs Malsawmi.

Also, in 2016, she was expecting her third child and wanted to use a nice Puak Puan once the child was born.

“I was hoping to enjoy motherhood by using a nice traditional Puak Puan (baby sling). These baby slings have been used for years, and I was looking for anything that caught my eye. But, the quality of Puak Puan that was available in the market was not good. So, I thought to myself that since I was anyway getting Paun made from the weavers, why not ask them to also customise a Puak Puan for me,” recalls Malsawmi.

She then bought some yarn in the market and handed it to her weaver. The weaver agreed and took a week to make the baby sling as per Malsawm’s directions.

“Although she was initially hesitant about trying out a new design, she made the baby sling, and I loved it. It is so versatile that it can even be worn as a shawl!” Malsawmi says.

Soon, Malsawmi started getting a lot of appreciation for the customised weaves she was getting made. This got her thinking, and she realised that she could start a business where she sold these handwoven beauties.

This would keep the traditional loin loom alive while also aiding the livelihood of homemakers who possessed the skill and knowledge of weaving. This is what led to the birth of Zo Weave.

Going about the operations

The operations begin with Malsawmi buying the yarn from the markets. She then sits and conceptualises different designs, which are explained to the weavers.

The weavers work from the comfort of their homes and there is no unit for Zo Weave as such as of now. Most of the weavers are based out of Aizawl while some also belong to neighbouring villages.

Once the products are ready, Malsawmi herself goes and picks up the products. While, for weavers in remote areas, a vehicle is arranged from Aizawl for the pick-up of the finished goods.

The Puak Puan sold by Zo Weave is slightly broader and longer than what is available in the market. The ones handwoven by the brand are 27 inches in breadth and 90 inches in length. A Zo Weave Puans are priced between Rs 2500-15,000 depending on the intricacy of the patterns and time taken to weave it. The size helps in the comfort of the baby and the person carrying the baby.

The Puan, on the other hand, is 63 inches in width and 48 inches in length and there is a great demand for these as well, especially among the Mizo women.

These weaves take anywhere between a week to a month to be ready. It involves a lot of hard work and precision to weave beautiful designs. Once the Puak Puan and the Puan are woven, it is washed, dried and ironed by a staff member hired by Malsawmi.

In case there is a defective piece, it is not labelled and sold, but Malsawmi sells it if one wants to buy it at a discounted price.

The entrepreneur also adds that social media platforms like Instagram and word of mouth have been important factors that have helped reach many customers.

Testimonials

History professor Rosaline Varsangzuali had just had her third child six months back when she first came across Zo Weave’s baby sling in a children’s clothing store in Aizawl. She was immediately taken by the fine quality of the Puak Puan and the exclusivity of the designs. She has used the Puak Puan for six months now and says she loves it.

“It is beautifully woven while the patterns and motifs really stand out. It is sturdy and soft at the same time. It is easy to tie around and comfortable enough to carry the baby. Moreover, it is multi-purpose and can be used as a baby blanket and even a shawl. I love the contemporary design,” says the 46-year-old.

Dr Ramdinthari was scrolling through Instagram when she came across a picture of an acquaintance wearing a beautiful Puan with a black and white design.

“The Puan is something that is a traditional attire rooted in culture and wearing a beautiful Puan is nothing less than a fashion statement. In a way, you could say this beautiful piece of clothing defines us and is a matter of pride,” says the 38-year-old

The Assistant professor of English then decided to contact the person and find the designer of the beautiful Puan. This is what led her to Zo Weave about two years back. Since then, Malsawmi has become a go-to designer for Ramdinthari, and she has ended up buying over 10 Puans from Zo Weave.

“I love the fact that she makes traditional designs contemporarily relevant. It is her little twists that make the products unique. The quality is refined and I also really admire the fact that it engages and empowers women who are telling their stories through these weaves,” states Ramdinthari.

Overcoming challenges and looking ahead

Zo Weave is currently managing its operations with efficiency, but it is not a piece of cake. As a mother of four and the main person managing all the functions, Malsawmi says that it can often be very challenging.

“It is often very stressful to manage all the operations by myself. But, I have three sisters, and they often give me feedback that helps me improve the quality of the products. They also lend a hand when I need support,” says Malsawmi.

Additionally, maintaining the authenticity of the product while also ensuring the quality is up to the mark is a constant challenge.

But, through her learnings, Malsawmi has a few words of advice for homemakers, mothers and entrepreneurs like herself.

“The thing is, if you are passionate about something, go ahead and pursue it. Remember that it is never too late and with hard work, one will only succeed in the long run,” she says.

So, what is in store with Zo Weave now?

Malsawmi informs that they are currently experimenting with different kinds of fibre. By the end of this year, she is hopeful that they’ll launch the first sample of silk Puak Puans and Puans as she hasn’t launched a collection using this fabric yet. She believes that with more variety, accessing more customers and engaging more weavers would be possible.

“I have a real vision for us to grow and expand globally. I want to show the beauty, character and functionality of Mizo weaves while also proving that when women support each other, we can achieve anything,” she says, signing off.

Rapid-fire:
*An entrepreneur you admire.
Ans: Jesmina Zeliang, founder of Heirloom Naga

*One value that can help small businesses thrive
Ans: Trust / Loyalty

* Any app/software that helps you manage your work
Ans: Instagram (in promoting my business)

*Your favourite book
Ans: Three thousand stitches by Sudha Murthy

*In my free time, I ____…
Ans: spend quality time with my family… I particularly enjoy road trips

* A message for your past self about small businesses
Ans: Learn from trials and errors for better outcomes

* Something they don’t teach in college but is important to run a business is
Ans: the fact that satisfaction comes from doing things we are passionate about.

*One question I always ask people while hiring is __…
Ans: that I expect loyalty from my employee

*Best advice you ever got is ____…
Ans: we rise by helping each other.

Check out Zo Weave’s Instagram page.

(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

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Write to us: contact@thebetterindia.com
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When was the last time you wore your wedding dress? Chances are this piece of clothing, which you probably spent a huge amount of money on, is sitting in your wardrobe safely tucked away.

Sabitha Nasar, a boutique owner based in Kannur had the same thought when she saw several of her customers struggling financially to afford an outfit for their wedding. But instead of a passing thought, this idea has grown into a full initiative – to provide pre-owned wedding dresses for free to brides who were finding it difficult to afford it.

Over the span of 3 years, Sabitha and the Agora team have been able to help almost 100 brides pick out their dream wedding outfits and have even helped several other brides meet other financial needs for their wedding.

With the help of the ‘Agora’ WhatsApp group which consisted of 22 other women from across Kerala, now Sabitha receives wedding gowns and lehengas from across Kerala and brings them over to her boutique so that brides can have their pick.

Saying Yes To The Dress

“I started my shop, Rainbow Women’s Boutique almost eight years back. It has always been my passion to design clothes and to be able to see others wear what I’ve designed. Over the course of time, I would display my work at several expos that were held around the Kozhikode and Kannur as well. It was during these expos that I had the opportunity to meet several other women entrepreneurs like myself who shared the same passion as me,” says Sabitha.

“We got talking and that’s when I told them about my plan to create a pre-owned wedding dress donation drive. The others loved the idea and told me that they would love to be a part of it. That was the beginning of the Agora WhatsApp group,” she adds.

Although Sabitha had started giving wedding dresses to underprivileged brides when she started the boutique, the brides never had the option of picking out the dress they wanted.

“I have been donating dresses for eight years now but I wanted the bride to have their own selection and didn’t want them to feel as though they had to say yes to something they weren’t happy with. The dresses we got through the Agora group opened up this possibility,” says Sabitha.

Every dress that arrives at the boutique as part of the pre-owned collection is dry cleaned, sometimes re-designed and made to look good as new.

“We also provide the brides with alteration facilities to make sure it fits perfectly. Just because we’re giving it out for free doesn’t mean we should compromise on the quality of the service we’re delivering. It’s the bride’s big day and we make sure that she feels like a queen,” says Sabitha.

Women Supporting Women

“The Agora group consists of women from across Kerala aged between 20 and 50 and we all come from completely different backgrounds, we have a chartered accountant, IT professionals and even engineers amongst us,” says Femidha Shaheen, a member of the group for the past three years.

“I had a homemade chocolate business a while back and it was during an exhibition at Kannur that I met this group of women there. When I heard about the initiative I didn’t have to think twice because I myself have seen how my parents have struggled to arrange the finances for my wedding,” she explains.

Over the three years, Agora has organised several drives to raise money for underprivileged and collect these pre-owned dresses. Besides arranging the wedding dress, the team also helps with free bridal make-up and Mehendi depending on the need of the client.

“Most of the time, the brides themselves find it difficult to tell us what the level of financial struggle they are going through so we enquire with their close friends and relatives on how we can help them out, “ Femidha adds.

As a result of their efforts, the group has collected hundreds of dresses including pre-owned Sabyasachi designer sarees, making several brides happy.

“Sometimes my regular customers end up liking the pre-owned dresses we have set aside and ask if they can purchase them. In such cases, we make arrangements for them to donate the price of the dress to one of the underprivileged brides. This way, we get to make two brides happy at the same time,” says Sabitha.

“Several people have approached me asking why I don’t just rent out these second-hand clothes. But to me, that defeats the purpose of the whole initiative. We provide every bride with three dresses for the different functions during the wedding week, including the wedding dress and we don’t expect them to give us anything in return,” Sabitha explains.

“I make a good amount of income with my other dresses and I firmly believe that as an entrepreneur, I have to do something that impacts the society as well,” she adds.

The Agora team has expanded their work all over Kerala and now have their dress collections in Kasargod, Kannur, Calicut, Kollam, Pattambi and Payyar and will soon launch two new centres in Kochi and Mangalore.

If you wish to donate your pre-owned dresses or even your new dresses to the team, you can reach them on their Facebook page.

(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

“Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would give birth to my second born during a COVID-19 pandemic induced lockdown.”

It was in the month of May that Suchitra Shirke delivered her baby at a hospital in Bhavnagar, Gujarat. She describes the experience as one fraught with anxiety, nervousness, and a huge amount of unrest.

“Nothing about the pregnancy seemed normal – being cooped up inside the house to the looming uncertainty of what would happen even after the baby was born kept me up many a night,” she says.

A general COVID-19 induced lull

“There was a general feeling of caution that everyone in my family had undertaken, after all, I did not want to become the first pregnant woman to be infected with COVID-19,” she tells. This led to everyone staying away and that meant that there were no get-togethers or moments of fun within the family.

“Even the after-dinner walks with my husband, that I so cherished, had to be given up,” she tells me. This time around, there seemed to be no enthusiasm and no matter how much she tried, a feeling of unease always crept in. “It was a very scary period, given that I was stuck indoors for the entire nine months of my pregnancy,” she says.

Living in perennial fear

“I feel as though this pandemic has driven me to become obsessive about cleanliness and I am constantly worried that I have caught COVID-19,” says Suchitra. There were times when after consuming a store-bought food, Suchitra would spend days lamenting over it and worried sick about whether it was the right thing to have done.

“This pandemic has driven and continues to drive me mad,” she exclaims.

“All I prayed for is to deliver a healthy baby and for that, I was willing to subject myself to the kind of isolation that I was in,” she says. Watching the news and just listening to people around us speak about COVID-19 added that much more pressure on her. What helped to a great extent is having a doctor who was always available to clear any doubt.

“For me, Dr Nidhi Vasani Iyer was truly god sent. She took me through each step with utmost care. Even while I was lying on the operation table, she continued to reassure me that I would be fine.”

The D-Day

While people mostly discuss what their hospital bag contains while packing before they head to the hospital for delivery, Suchitra speaks about how they had to keep all their papers ready in case they were stopped by cops on their way to the hospital. “It was an uncomfortable time, that’s the only way I can describe it,” she tells me.

Dr Nidhi weighs in on this and says, “The most important thing is to pacify the expectant mothers and their families. The risk vertical transmission of this infection is very low so even if the mother is positive the chances of the child being positive for COVID-19 are negligible.”

The other thing that doctors need to continuously reiterate is their own availability in case of any emergency. Speaking about her own experiences with delivering babies through this pandemic, she says, “It’s been a mixed bag – while most mothers are stressed out and a few even panic, the most challenging part continues to be to convince patients to get tested for COVID-19 prior to delivery.”

“Another thing is to restrict the number of visitors a new mother gets – everyone insists on visiting almost immediately after the birth and that is not something I would advise,” she says.

The struggle continues

It has now been four months since Suchitra delivered her baby and even now every time the baby needs to be taken for a vaccination there is fear. “No matter how much I take care I know that people around me seem to be taking COVID-19 rather lightly. There is no sense of fear in them and that scares me,” she confides.

Sanitising and scrubbing herself and the baby clean after every visit to the doctor has become a routine practice for Suchitra now. “What this has done is increase our monthly expenditure – we use up so many sanitisers, cleaning products not just for the home but also for the vegetables and fruits we consume, and of course the masks and gloves.”

For a family of three and a half people, Suchitra says that the washing machine is run atleast four times each day, that is the level of paranoia that Suchitra is experiencing. “Every sneeze, every cough, even a slight change in the throat is freaking me out, and I know that I need to let go and live without this fear,” says Suchitra.

As we end our conversation, I hear Suchitra’s little one gurgle in the background. “It’s been tough but when I see what I’ve produced, I smile. It’s now upto us, to stay safe and follow all the norms that are being suggested. Even if the vaccine comes, it is not going to reach us anytime soon, so just exercise caution.”

(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

If you, like thousands of others, have enjoyed a hot meal onboard Indigo, then you have Radha Daga to thank. How many of us would have noticed the name of the company – Triguni Foods – that manufactures the instant, filling meal? And further still, how many of us know that it was started by Radha when she was sixty-nine years old? This is the inspiring story of a woman who proves that if you have passion, then age is merely a number.

“Please call me back at 3.00 p.m. – by then I will have finished my work at the factory and my mind will be free. Right now, I am on my morning rounds and preoccupied with things at the factory,” says Radha, now 78 years old, and yet works as hard as people who are half her age and runs a tight ship.

Radha is the founder-managing director of Triguni Foods. When most people are thinking about retiring in their sixties, Radha, at 69, switched gears and went from being a successful textile exporter to following her passion and starting a food business.

Even now, when Triguni Foods’ has existed for over a decade, Radha approaches each day with the same enthusiasm she did when she started it.

Food – a childhood influence

As we begin our conversation, Radha tell me how while growing up, one of the things that she thoroughly enjoyed was going through magazines in which beautiful food and their recipes were showcased.

“My mother would get various home and gardening magazines to learn about knitting, and I would spend hours looking through recipes and home décor ideas,” she says.

Despite her keen interest in cooking, it wasn’t until after Radha was married that she actively took to cooking. “After my marriage, it was my desire to bake and make food that was not part of the daily menu that took me into the kitchen,” she says. Just as she completes this sentence, she makes a little confession. “By temperament, I am one who can create recipes, understand food, and what it should taste like. However, cooking itself is not something that I would do. In fact, if I did cook, the dish might not even turn out the way I had envisioned it.”

“If you ask me why I was so attracted to creating food, I have no answer. It has been a deep desire of mine since childhood,” she says.

Birth of an entrepreneur

She attributes her entrepreneurial mindset to the fact that she spent much of her formative years at the Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry. “It’s where I learnt to dream without attaching any boundaries to my aspirations,” she says.

In her twenties, Radha took up a job at a travel agency. She speaks about how it was important for her to have that job, mainly to prove to herself that she was capable. The financial independence that it gave her was something that Radha cherished.

It was in 1987 that Radha decided to take the plunge and become an entrepreneur. “I was in my mid-forties when I started Chimise Exports – a garment export company set up in Chennai. What came out of it was the learning – from the types of material, to what it means to assure good quality, keep up deadlines, etc. “I still pride myself in the fact that there was never even one piece of reject cloth from my factory,” she says with the hint of a smile.

What kept her motivated was also the fact that she had, in setting up the factory and the business, generated employment for several underprivileged women. “I worked hard. In those days getting a loan to build a factory was rather difficult. I persisted, worked towards it, put together the money, and finally, built the factory with my own money,” she says.

There was a time when there were almost a thousand people employed at the garment factory. “It is a labour intensive industry after all,” she says.

One Box Checked, But Food Dream Remained

Even though Radha was a fairly successful garment exporter, her passion lay in food. “There was almost this itch that I felt in wanting to pursue my passion for food in some form or the other,” she says. After toying with various ideas – from considering making jams, preserves and marmalades – Radha zeroed in on ready-to-eat food packets.

What Radha wanted to achieve was creating products, which have no preservatives and are 100 percent natural. “Making them closest to home-made food is my motto,” she says.

The seeds of the food business were sown at the garment factory and it was in 2010 that Radha’s dream started to take shape. “I didn’t want it to be just a way to pass my time. Food was always at the back of my mind, and while I knew I wanted to do something around it, I did not have the infrastructure and capital at that time to begin,” she says.

Finally, she decided to act on it. “There was an empty room at the factory, which I converted into a place where I could experiment with food. I hired a chef, and together, the journey began.”

Once Radha was sure that the food business had potential and could be done, she started hiring people. By this time, she was sixty-nine years of age, but for Radha, it was never something to think about. Thus started Triguni Eze Eats.

First Few Developments at Triguni

To be able to make good quality, nutritious, affordable meals accessible to all was the idea with which Radha started Triguni. “There were many hits and misses to begin with,” says Radha. Talking about one of the first few food products she worked on, she says, “Idli was one that did not take off, but at the same time, lemon rice turned out to be exceptionally good. And with that, it all started.”

When asked about the investment she made into this, she says, “It was all a gradual process. The equipment needed and the hires we made over the course of the year constituted our major expenditure. I would say it has been to the tune of Rs. one crore over the first year.”

When asked about her personal favourite from all the food that she had developed, she is quick to dismiss the question, saying, “Oh, that is almost impossible to answer. Let me tell you about our bestsellers.”

Bestsellers at Triguni

The Rava Upma with a very low level of spice, made especially for those at Auroville, was very well received and that is the product that Indigo rebranded as Magic Upma for their passengers. “In a way, the Magic Upma changed our fortunes,” she adds.

IndiGo Airlines is Triguni’s largest buyer, accounting for more than 80 percent of its business.

The Hyderabadi biryani, dal-chawal, poha, rajma-chawal, and even the chicken curry rice are very popular. “Everytime we feel like we should stop and concentrate on the products we have, we end up developing another one,” she says with a chuckle.

Other than being sold on flights, Radha says that these ready-to-eat food packets will soon be available on various trains. “Having good, affordable food available on train journeys is one of my dreams,” she says.

There are about fifteen products that are available at Triguni and with a shelf life of about six months, these are stocked in various retail stores pan-India. On average, these food packs cost between Rs 80 to Rs 120 and can be ordered via Amazon and the official company website here.

Radha – The True Boss Woman

“Diligent, punctual, and a stickler for quality,” are the attributes that P Krishna, Radha’s associate at Triguni for over a decade, uses to describe her. Even today, Radha makes it a point to visit the factory every single day and walks all five floors during the time she spends on her inspection rounds.

“In all these years that I have worked alongside Mrs Daga, not once have I been made to realise how old she is. She does not just keep up with the rest of us, but on many occasions, outshines us,” says Krishna.

As we near the end of our conversation, she says, “Yes, I am seventy-eight and am often asked why I do what I do – the answer to that is ‘passion’. Creating food is my passion and I am so happy that I am getting to work on it.”

“Dream as big as you can – only then can you spend your waking hours making them come true,” are Radha’s words of advice.

(Edited by Anuradha Kedia)

Losing weight instantly is a new fad. There are many diets, drinks, pills that promise the same, but these methods don’t benefit an individual in the long run. Apart from that, those who are unfit owing to medical conditions face complications in their physical and mental health when the desired results are not delivered.

Two years ago, Irawati Kore (23), a Pune-based banker was one such individual who was looking at quick weight loss options. She was 21 years old when an unhealthy lifestyle of sleeping late, eating at restaurants and avoiding home-cooked meals caught up to her.

“I weighed over 90 kilos. I realised I had gained so much weight only when none of my clothes fit me and everyone around me would ask why I gained so much weight. I reached a point where I did not want to face myself in the mirror or the camera. I did a lot of research online about how I could lose weight, and I came across many quick fixes, but I avoided them because I also came across stories contradicting the same quick-fix.”

Today, she has lost 22 kilos without a strict diet or following a rigorous exercise regimen.

Here’s how she did it –

Looking at obstacles as opportunities

In 2018, the weight-gain caused Ira to miss her periods for a few months. That is when she visited a gynecologist who diagnosed her with PCOD and mild hypothyroidism. The doctor also told her that it would be hard for her to lose weight as people with PCOD tend to gain weight faster.

While the doctor suggested continuous workout and strict diets, Ira knew she loved food too much and it would be hard for her to stick to patterns proposed by others.

“After that doctor’s visit, I got onto the internet and did a lot of reading about my condition. I came across many motivational stories about other’s journeys of weight loss, but each was different in its way. Through continued research and reading motivational books such as ‘Don’t lose out, work out’ or ‘Don’t lose your mind, lose your weight’ by Rujuta Diwekar, I promised myself that I would not try to lose weight, instead gain health.”

Staying positive

Overcoming her negative thoughts was the first step to Irawati’s weight loss journey. She told herself that losing weight with her condition was not easy, but reassured herself that it was not impossible.

“I never spoke to a dietician or a nutritionist. Instead, I switched to the basics – traditional home-cooked meals. I started paying attention to what I was eating. I told myself that ‘You are what you eat’. With that thought, I started to include more fruits, vegetables, grains like whole wheat, ragi, and for snacks I switched to the traditional Indian ones such as Chakkulli, besan laddoos, and dry fruits,” says Ira adding that she never measured the quantity she ate, instead focussed on when she felt full. She points out that she would eat the amount which satisfied her hunger.

She ensured that she had something to eat every two hours to keep from overeating at one go.

Here’s what her meal plan looked like most days :

Breakfast – Home-cooked meals like khichdi, upma, or paratha
Mid Snack – Fruits or dry fruits
Lunch – Roti and sabzi
Evening snack – Fresh juice, besan laddoos, or homemade snacks such as chakkuli or chiwda
Dinner – Rice with dal, milk, or some curry.

Ira says, “On some days, I would get a crave to have a pastry, pizza, or some sort of deep-fried food, and I never stopped myself. I indulged in every kind of delicacy, but I just avoided eating that late or after already having a meal.”

Changing her lifestyle

Another obstacle she faced was the lack of sleep. Being a student of Interior design, her college work and hobbies like art and reading used to keep her up all night which forced her to sleep for less than 6 hours.

“While I could not stop working on my hobbies or college work, I also needed to focus on activities that would keep me moving. So I charted out a weekly plan. I enrolled myself in Bharatnatyam, yoga, and got a gym membership. Once I got done with the class, I would focus on my college work. Post this, I was forced to sleep because my body needed it. Every week I would spend 5 days alternating between three of these rigorous activities. The other two were for taking rest, and focussing on my hobbies,” says Irawati.

Keeping herself active from morning to the evening not only helped her boost her metabolism but also helped her sleep better.

“Within a few months, I noticed myself slowly wean from my craving for fast food. I noticed that I was more interested in finding traditional recipes such as kheer made from whole wheat or Chillas made from besan flour. I realised that what I was doing became a part of my daily routine, and I was not charting out plans like before.”

In her weight loss journey, there were days where she would assume that what she was doing was not helping her and that she was not losing weight. On those days, she whispered to herself that she can do anything. She would also reassure herself that it was better health that she gained.

“Mid-2019, when I was out with a friend she clicked a picture of me and I noticed that I was looking thinner than before. Even my relatives would see me and ask how I lost weight. After those comments, I stood on a weighing machine and noticed I lost 18 kilos and that I looked much healthier.”

Amulya Kalyan, a friend of Irawati since college says that her consistency and determination are an inspiration to her.

She says, “When Ira gained weight owing to her health conditions some friends and her family criticised her a lot. But she stayed positive through all that, focussed on her vision, and achieved what she wanted. She made me believe that the success of achieving good health is in the mind which eventually affects everything you do.”

To date, Ira has lost 22 kilos but her journey of being fit does not end because it is her lifestyle.

If you wish to know more about Ira’s journey you can read her blog here or send her an email at koreirawati@gmail.com

(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

We are in the seventh month of this pandemic induced situation and so much has changed for everyone. Along with the number of COVID-19 cases in India rising, the number of women who have been at the receiving end of domestic violence and abuse has also grown.

Iti Rawat, founder, Women Entrepreneur Foundation (WEFT) says that since 30 March 2020, the organisation has received 189 calls from women who have been victims of domestic violence and abuse of some form.

While that is almost a call a day, what is even more disheartening is that reports suggest that almost 86 per cent of the domestic abuse cases just go unreported, and 0 per cent of the cases reported are of first-time offenders.

National Commission of Women also mentions that domestic abuse cases in India are at a ten-year high. Alarming, to say the least.

Entrepreneurial Forum Shifts Focus

WEFT was founded in 2018 to give women entrepreneurs a chance to network, help them fine-tune business pitches, and also connect them with potential funds. With a membership base of about 1500 women, the organisation has members from pan-India.

In March when the lockdown was announced Iti and her team sent out a mail to their member database, primarily to check if anyone needed any help with their businesses. “While most of them replied saying there wasn’t really much of a business they were doing at that moment, there was one reply which caught our attention,” says Iti.

It was from a member who was being abused and sought help in getting out of that situation. “We dug a little deeper and what we found made us rather uncomfortable,” she says.

Red Dot Initiative

On 30 March 2020, WEFT launched the ‘Red Dot Initiative’, as a means to reach out to women who were suffering from domestic abuse and find ways of rescuing and rehabilitating them. Iti says, “A conversation with the National Council for Women (NCW), Rekha Sharma, also proved to be an eye-opener, because we were told about how the pandemic and lockdown had resulted in a spike in domestic abuse cases. We were also told how many women do not even have the wherewithal to lodge a formal complaint.”

Since the start of this initiative, 73 women have been rescued from across India.

What does a rescue mission entail?

Just as dramatic as it sounds, the rescue mission is an elaborate plan that needs proper execution. Explaining this, Iti says, “Rescue missions take place in cases where the woman wants to get out of her home but is unable to do so. We reach out to the local police, get them to file the case, and follow up with them until we can safely get the woman out of the abusive environment.”

Having been part of many rescue missions, Iti speaks about how every case brings with it new learnings. “I started this with a lot of passion, seeing that women all across needed support and help.”

There is an elaborate plan behind every rescue mission. There is a team that does an initial reconnaissance once a case is registered with the organisation. If verified that the woman does need help, they spring into action. “We have needed to set up these checks because of some cases we got initially were just to spite the in-law or out of the need to get revenge, the woman had reached out to us,” explains Iti.

Once the woman is brought out of the house, she is either moved to a family member’s home where she can stay safe, or if no one is there for her to be with, a safe house is identified where she is kept. “We also try as much as possible to find them jobs to ensure that she is financially independent,” says Iti.

Since 30 March 2020, seventy-three women have been rescued from abusive homes. Calls have been pouring in from across the country, and some of the rescue missions have also been conducted in Jind in Punjab to Silao in Bihar and Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan.

A Case That Left An Impact

Speaking about a case that Iti feels very strongly about, she says, “A young woman of about 36-years-of-age from Silao in Bihar sent us pictures on Whatsapp of her swollen knees and a terribly bruised back. We reached out to her, and she shared with us the horrors that she was being subjected to.” Her in-laws would regularly beat her up, and there was once an instance when they even threw a sil batta (grinding stone) on her.

Her husband, who worked outstation, would return every few months and rape her, only to be egged on by the in-laws. “This was also a dowry harassment case, where the in-laws wanted more money from her and hence tortured her.” While Iti and her team managed to rescue her from her house and even get a case lodged against the in-laws and husband, they managed to get out of jail on bail rather quickly.

“Just listening to the horrors that the young woman had been subjected to left a very deep impact on me. Their way of setting her right was to get the husband to rape her into submission,” says Iti. As Iti narrates this story, I feel horror and anger at how badly women continue to be treated.

How Are The Financials of WEFT Managed?

WEFT has been functioning primarily with the membership money that it had collected pre-COVID times. Iti says, “Our expenditure as of now is only for the rescue missions we are conducting. If it is a local rescue mission, we spend not more than Rs 500, and if it is an outstation mission, that costs us upwards of Rs 5000, which includes booking their tickets and other help that we provide.”

The membership fee costs Rs 5000 annually.

If you need to reach out to WEFT and the Red Dot Initiative, you can reach out to their helpline number at 9686119822 or send them an e-mail at weftinfo@gmail.com. You can also reach Red Dot Initiative on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

This article has been published in partnership with Arth

When Seema Devi lost her husband in 2016, her world fell apart. A mother of two, she had no support system to help her. Both emotionally and financially devastated, she had to take up the reins as the sole breadwinner to support her family.

A resident of Bela Gusisi in Uttar Pradesh, Seema Devi wanted to set up a small dairy business, which she could manage from home. But with no know-how about how to do it and no real access to funds, her dreams of running a business faced a serious challenge.

That is when ARTH stepped in.

In 2017, ARTH provided Seema Devi with funds, and trained her in digital literacy, to help her start her business and achieve social and economic independence. ARTH’s assistance went beyond a one-time capital for the business.

The recent COVID-19 pandemic hit Seema Devi hard. Not only did her own business almost reach a halt, both her sons lost their jobs due to the lockdown, and returned home.

It was hard to keep things running at such times. But a special relief policy by ARTH offered to its micro-enterprise customers (that allowed for flexible repayments), meant she could keep her loan going without the worry about bad debt.

Another livelihood initiative by ARTH, called ‘Sakhee’, helped Seema Devi further by facilitating access to government schemes like the PM Gareeb Kalyan Yojana and Widow Pension scheme.

Owing to this, throughout the lockdown period, Seema has been able to get various benefits such as LPG supplies, subsidies, food supply and direct cash transfers.

Seema Devi was able to continue, without giving up, during these critical times. Her inspiring story is just one among those of over 2,00,000 others, who have been getting consistent support from ARTH.

A social impact lending venture focused on delivering access to affordable credit and livelihood support services to millions of micro-entrepreneurs; here is how the journey of ARTH Digital Loans began.

The Rural Exposure That Inspired the Plunge

Born and brought up in rural Uttar Pradesh, Shweta Aprameya spent the early years of her career working in the Financial Technology sector, enabling digital financial access through innovative technology. During this time, she came to understand the potential impact fintech can have at the grassroots and began to weave a plan for building solutions for the masses.

She conceptualized and developed the first low-cost savings micro deposit machine (MDM) for the masses. The machine was meant to be deployed by banks in India to facilitate daily savings, where banking infrastructure could not reach.

Her first machine was deployed at the Dharavi market, Mumbai, in 2008 to help the urban poor make single note deposits, especially targeting women and daily wage earners.

It was a complete eye-opener to see both the challenges and the opportunity of bringing millions in the formal financial system. This was the moment of truth!

The big plunge came in 2010 when Shweta left a high paying corporate career in the UK for good and started working on developing innovative solutions for micro customers.

Her work in India began with Financial Inclusion as a key goal. In 2013, she worked on developing a mobile financial services platform to power micro banking and payments (including domestic remittance) for ‘the base of the pyramid’ customers. In 2015, she ventured into affordable credit with a focus on supporting the 13-million strong women micro-entrepreneurs in India.

“Over the years, I realised that for the country to grow, we would need to focus our efforts on micro-entrepreneurs. India’s masses are mostly occupied with micro and small enterprises, including agriculture and diary. Access to affordable capital is one of their primary financial needs. We have to move away from the passive banker model to a proactive wealth creator model, where one who is willing to engage the micro-customer” says Shweta.

This may sound ambitious but Shweta’s thought process on impact creation with a mainstream mindset was sown long ago.

“Post-college, in 2002, with a degree in Economics, I wanted to spend sometime exploring development sector projects. I was lucky to have gotten an internship at ITC agriculture division. The internship was part of one of the best projects of the company – e-choupal; which focused on using ICT & solar technology to solve the problems of farmers in rural parts of the country. And as part of the work, I had to do a case study which involved travelling to remote villages to understand the impact of e-choupal. That experience gave me exposure like no other and, in the latter part of my career, inspired me to take this plunge to work on real problem-solving areas for the masses,” says Shweta.

She adds how her upbringing also played an integral part in ARTH’s focus on empowering and enabling women entrepreneurs and balancing the scales of gender financing in India.

“I was born into a family whose values were always rooted in grassroots work. My father worked in the Indian Forest Services, while my mother came from a humble teaching background. It was both my parents, my mother, who inspired me to work on basics and my father who taught me to care for marginalized communities and to be a real change-maker.” She adds.

The ARTH made great strides since 2015. It was later incorporated under a larger fold, also called ARTH, that focused on micro-entrepreneurs, both men and women, with 2018 being a turning point.

In that year, Shweta went to MIT – which opened her horizons to global successful models of business, innovation and impact.

Where ARTH is Today

Today, Arth is a financial services company delivering access to capital to millions of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) across the services and agriculture sector.

There are over 60 million micro-enterprises in India that employ over 300 million people – which is 50% of the workforce in the country.

Arth focuses on supporting these millions of micro-entrepreneurs in their journey of struggle and success by providing them micro capital for their business needs, business tools, and livelihood support to set up and grow their businesses.

Spread across 500 city locations serving over 13000 pin codes and 600 villages, ARTH’s vision of using technology to implement comprehensive financial inclusion in the country is now seeing real traction.

ARTH is helping micro-enterprises, who do not have access to flexible credit facilities, discover various financial services in India to help them build a robust local economy in both rural and urban areas.

ARTH’s vision is to build a cluster and community-centric MSME ecosystem that will empower millions of Indians. Examples would be an embroidery or Chikankari cluster in Lucknow district or an Ittar cluster in Kannuj district or the growers of Metha & Lemongrass in Raebareli.

“I feel my greatest achievement is linked to the success of the lives we touch through ARTH. As they say, technology is just a means to the end. Even for us at Arth, while we deploy ‘high tech’, our approach to building good business is to have a greater purpose at the heart of the model. We have not built it all, but the beginning is already there showing positive signs,” Shweta says in closing.

When we say ARTH reached five lakh people and directly impacted two lakh, it is hard to digest that number. It feels statistical. But we must remember that it is not just a number. Each one of them is a person with a dream. There are several millions of Seema Devi’s across India.

Which is perhaps the greatest takeaway we can take from organizations like ARTH. That is, when you blend awareness, digitisation, and technology with the needs of the grassroots in a manner that addresses their needs, you can, and will, unlock the potential of a nation.

(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

After ‘Baba Ka Dhaba’ in Delhi’s Malviya Nagar received immense support from Netizens, many are sharing videos of local businesses around them. Here is one such video of an old lady named Parvathyamma who runs a local eatery in Karimba near Mannarkkad in Kerala.

She says that she serves unlimited meals for Rs 50, and uses the money she earns to feed her family. In the video, Parvathyamma explains the dishes she will serve and requests people to visit the premises to try it out themselves.

The video was shared with the caption: ‘Kerala Story: This old lady runs a Dhaba in order to feed her family. She doesn’t have customers and struggles to earn. It is the delicious Parvathyamma’s eatery at Karimba, near Mannarkkad. After Baba ka Dhaba, Keralites turn to help this elderly woman. #BabaKaDhaba.’

(Please note: The Better India cannot verify if the lady is facing any struggles and neither has she requested any donations. ) 

Kerala Story : This old lady runs a Dhaba in order to feed her family. She doesn't have customers & struggles to earn. It’s resilient and delicious Parvathyamma’s eatery at Karimba, near Mannarkkad.
After Baba ka Dhaba, Keralites turn to help this elderly woman. #BabaKaDhaba pic.twitter.com/DL3n4VddA8

— Aarif Shah (@aarifshaah) October 10, 2020

After watching the video, netizens started to tag those living near that area requesting them to eat at her restaurant.

Another user commented saying that he visited the premises in Kerala for an Onam Sadhya and said that Parvathyamma is a lovely person and treated them like she was their mother. The user even tagged a video along with his comment to share his experience.

I had been her..she is like a mother to all and very lovely person. And the food is so cheap I was so shocked. I had my onam Sandhya from here for like 50 bucks.. I had shared my experience in this videohttps://t.co/BrxJCbXBqW

— oru aana katha (@AanaOru) October 12, 2020

Bijiyashanti Tongbram (27), lives in a small village named Thanga Tongbram located in the Bishnupur district of Manipur. A few kilometres from her home is Loktak lake, which is the largest freshwater lake in the Northeast region. This lake is famous for its numerous small islands known as phumdis and the thousands of lotuses blooming in it.

In this region, the lotuses are used as offerings to the gods and also for decorative purposes, but Bijiyashanti has learnt the technique of extracting fibre that is soft as silk from the lotuses’ stems and making thread from it. These threads can be used to knit scarves, stitch ties, and make masks. There are only a few places in the world where this kind of work is done – in Myanmar and in Cambodia.

Since learning the technique to extract the fibre and spin the thread, Bijiyashanti has opened her own enterprise named ‘Sanajing Sana Thambal’ and decided to teach this method to other women in her village.

What inspired her?

In 2014, after completing her Honours degree in Botany from GP Women’s College, Imphal, Bijiyashanti was wondering about what she could do. She could not find a job that she was passionate about and spent the following years trying to come up with a business plan where she could earn and provide employment to others.

In 2018, she attended a programme on ‘How to become an entrepreneur’ at the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME Centre) in Manipur.

“It was during this 10-day course that I learnt about how to set up a business, and the process of marketing. Once I finished the course I thought about what I was passionate about and I realised that it was lotus flowers because they grow widely in my area. I have always been fascinated with their medicinal properties and started to research on the internet about what I can do with lotuses. That is when I stumbled upon three interesting ideas. One was to make tea using the lotus flowers, the other was to start a lotus garden of my own with varieties from across the world, and finally to extract thread from the stems and make clothes,” says Bijiyashanti, adding that she started with the last option as it seemed most challenging.

She spent the next few months watching videos online and reading about the method of collecting the lotus stems, cleaning them, and extracting fibre.

The process of extracting fibre

The lotuses are usually collected from the lake by the locals to sell at temples and flower markets. But before they are taken to the market the stems are cut and a significant portion of the stems just thrown away.

“I started gathering some of these stems that are thrown away. They have to be soaked in water for three days. This helps the stems produce a sticky substance inside which is the fibre,” says Bijiyashanti.

To extract the fibre, the stem is broken a few inches from one end and split open. Bijiyashanti says that when you split the stem, the gum-like fibre is produced. This is then spread onto a wooden table that is wet and rolled by hand to form one strand of thread usually 40cm long.

She says that initially, it was very challenging to roll the fibre because it is so fine. But slowly, with practice, she got better at it. The thread is allowed to dry under the sun for a few days. Then, it can be used to make fabrics, either on a spinning wheel or loom.

“It is a time-consuming process. I used a thousand stems or more, and it took me over one month to produce enough thread to make one scarf. The spun thread is made into scarves by weaving on a traditional loom and the ties are knitted by hand,” explains Bijiyashanti. For colour, Bijiyashanti added organic dyes.

Providing employment

To start producing garments at a faster pace, she thought about teaching the method to other women in her area, and employing the local community.

“In 2019, when I spread the word around my village, seven women joined me and I taught them how to extract the fibre and do the weaving. Then, the word spread to other nearby villages and a total of 15 women were trained. Their ages range from 22 to 50. By January 2020, I trained 40 people and 20 of them continue to make the thread. 7 of them work from my home-unit and the others have their wooden tables and spinning wheels to extract the fibre. I buy back the fibre from them and stitch neckties, scarves and also plan to make face masks. To make the garments we use a traditional bamboo-based loom.”

Ayingbi is a 50-year-old weaver who joined Bijiyashanti’s enterprise in 2019. She says that this time-consuming handicraft has kept her occupied throughout the lockdown.

“Initially, I did not know that thread can be extracted from lotus stems but now I have been doing it for one year. I have a wooden table and spinning wheel in my home so I can extract fibre and spin the thread. The finished product is as good as silk, and it can be woven using a traditional loom because the thread is very delicate,” she says.

Bijiyashanti hopes to soon open an online store with the products she is now beginning to make and sell, and even export her products by February 2021.

Kalpana Saroj was born into a Dalit family in a small village named Roperkheda in Maharastra. She was forcibly married at the age of 12 and faced many hardships that eventually drove her to attempt suicide.

At 16, she left her husband and was ostracized by society.

But that didn’t stop her from finding a new future. She moved to Mumbai with one of her uncles, who taught her how to operate an industrial sewing machine. Kalpana went on to take a government loan to start a tailoring business. Soon, she opened a furniture store and eventually paid back her loans. Remembering her past, she started an NGO which gives finance to other underprivileged people.

For most, this is where the story would end, and routine life takes over. Not for Kalpana.

You can watch the rest of her amazing story here:

By 2000, she had experience in three powerful spheres of life – personal struggle, entrepreneurship and the finances of blue-collar workers. Perhaps this is why she was approached by the bankrupt workers of the Union of Kanmani Tubes, a metal engineering company.

They had an interesting request for her NGO. They wanted someone to help them overcome a debt of Rs 116 Crore. Kalpana agreed.

When the company went into liquidation in 2001, she took over as the Chief Executive Officer, and after a long battle, not only did the company overcome the debt but also became highly profitable!

For such efforts, and her personal spirit, in 2013, Kalpana was awarded the Padma Shri for Trade and Industry.

We are now almost seven months into this pandemic. While the general economy continues to be in a bad state, there are some pockets of light, making the period a mixed bag for small businesses and entrepreneurs.

While many businesses have been negatively impacted, there are plenty of stories of everyday people turning into home entrepreneurs for the first time, and many others who are steering their businesses into new and unique directions, in reaction to the ‘new’ normal.

While our story is about one among the latter, before we get to that we must examine a problem the former are facing. Namely, as all these new CEOs are discovering – you have to market yourself to grab attention.

Now many do not have the resources to professionally market their products and services and are learning those skills on the job.

This is where the protagonist of this story, Rashmi Choudhary (41) enters.

A self-taught photographer, Rashmi was an in-demand photographer who used to cover events and programmes in the pre-COVID era. An entrepreneur herself, she started to notice the increase in home entrepreneurs who sell their wares online using product photographs to attract customers. But beyond the numbers, what caught her eye over time was that many of those entrepreneurs were putting up poor pictures of the product – out of focus, using poor lighting, not covering the product fully etc. – and that inspired her to do something about it.

What is the objective?

Everything is online as of now, and the first advertisement of your business is a social media post featuring a photograph of the product itself. And the quality of the photograph has a direct impact on the sales – the better the photograph, the higher the sales. This is the reason why large e-Commerce firms have entire teams devoted to creating product photographs. But for our small business owners – they are the photographer, telesales person, CEO, purchase manager, all rolled into one.

They are not professional photographers, and hence the quality of the photos end up being sub-standard and do not represent the product in the best possible manner.

Explaining this, Rashmi says, “Usually, someone who has no experience in clicking pictures will not look at how the light is falling, whether the picture captures the product in full, or if the colour scheme of the product seems altered. These are important aspects to consider while a product is being photographed,” says Rashmi.

Rashmi conducts workshops for such business owners to train and empower them with the right skills to shoot high-quality product photographs. In fact, she says her USP is that she shows how you don’t need expensive DSLRs or fancy equipment to create such professional-quality photos – a good smartphone is all you need.

What does the online photography course entail?

On day one the participant is introduced to some basic concepts, which include, introduction to photography, basics of photography, setting focus and exposure for mobile users, and even the various shooting modes, in case one uses a DSLR.

On day two, composition techniques, a discussion about lenses, the importance of grid lines, and various lens attachments for a smartphone is discussed. This is followed by day three, where the use of natural light, DIY backdrop hacks, and basic editing techniques is taught.

Once this is done, the participants are given an assignment, and keeping all the points they learnt in class in mind, are required to make a picture submission.

Who is Rashmi?

A popular photographer in Gurgaon and Delhi, Rashmi has a rather distinct style of working. Almost always clad in a saree one can see her clicking away at various events across the city. “This has become a sort of identity now. Saree and silver jewellery is how people identify me now, and I’m happy with that unique signature style of mine,” she says.

A marathon runner herself, in 2018, she accompanied a city-based running group to Ladakh, as the group’s official photographer, capturing some stunning shots of the marathon.

A mother of two, Rashmi’s time is spent between attending to their routines, conducting online workshops, clicking events, and on her edit table where she weaves her magic.

What are Rashmi’s credentials?

Rashmi is a visiting faculty with ISDI (Indian School of Design and Innovation) and since April 2020, has conducted online training programmes for more than 16 batches for ISDI and 8 on her own. “I’ve mentored more than 450 participants since the lockdown, and in a way, I think there has been a positive to the lockdown – the reach and need for people to attend this course have increased manifolds,” she says.

Being online has also eliminated the geographical differences and Rashmi says that she has had participants come in from the UK and Mongolia even.

Participant speaks

Nehha Ashiith, a studio potter who runs a brand called AHFFI, enrolled for the online photography course with Rashmi two months ago and says, “There is a world of a difference between the product pictures I used to click and what I do now. Even though the basics of photography was taught to us in college almost two decades ago, revisiting the concepts and sharpening some skills has helped me.”

Having got a professional photographer to click some pictures for her earlier, she says, “In the past, it has cost me about Rs 8,000 to get ten products shot. Now, armed with basic knowledge, I am able to do this myself free of cost.” What one learns during the sessions are also ideas to style the products and present them better.

The biggest takeaway for Neha has been to retain the colours of the product as is, and she says, “Earlier my greens would look likes blues and vice versa and Rashmi was clear that if i am marketing a product, there is no way that there could be a discrepancy in the colour.”

To join one of Rashmi’s workshops, you can connect with her via the following platforms.
Facebook and Instagram.

(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

India is the second-largest producer of onions in the world. In 2019-2020 the country exported 11,49,896 MT of fresh onions to the rest of the world. And 28.32% of it was cultivated in Maharashtra.

Though India produces large quantities of the crop, the price is always fluctuating, sometimes by 800%. For farmers growing this crop, it is either a jackpot or a complete loss.

According to news reports, since the last week of August, the prices have been on a steady rise owing to heavy rainfall in some states, and poor storage facilities in others.

Kalyani Shinde, a 23-year-old engineering graduate, who was born and raised in Lasalgaon, home to Asia’s largest onion market, is trying to change that with her startup. Godaam offers technology-based solutions to prevent onion wastage at the warehouse level.

“With Godaam, we aim to convert traditional warehouses into smart warehouses by installing sensors that can track micro climatic changes and help farmers identify any stock spoilage at an early stage,” says Kalyani.

The inspiration behind the startup

Coming from a family involved in farming onions and other crops, Kalyani had first-hand experience with the struggles a farmer goes through while trying to store crops.

When she was studying computer science engineering, in her final year, she had the opportunity to submit a project that outlined the issues a farmer cultivating onion faces, and provide technology-based solutions.

After doing some initial research, she realised the problem lies in storage. After the harvest, onions are usually stored in warehouses for a period of six to eight months. This when spoilage takes place. Kalyani noticed that when a farmer stores 10 kg of onions, around 40-50% of it rots.

“In January 2018, the project was picked up by Digital Impact Square, A TCS Foundation initiative, which also provided me with a team to develop the technology. The team and I spent the first three months doing ground research and interacting with farmers located around Nashik to understand the problems they faced,” says Kalyani.

During this stage, the team spoke with many farmers who had individual warehouses. These were constructed next to their farms, but, owing to a gap in communication between the farmers and government bodies, best practices were not used.

Kalyani says, “Farmers build warehouses that can store large quantities of the product, and do not focus on maintaining the quality of the crop.”

Another key finding she noted during the research stage was that farmers would identify spoilage in their crops based on a conventional method – noticing a rotten smell. But, this would be possible only after 30% of the produce was spoilt. Some would only notice spoilage when the stock, originally piled higher than five feet in height, sank below the mark. Which meant 70% of the stock was spoilt.

A solution to prevent onion wastage

To help the farmers identity spoilage at an early stage, and monitor their crop health at the warehouse, Kalyani and her team started to work on a technology that can identify microclimatic changes within the storage unit and alert the farmer if it was unsuitable for the crop.

The sensor, powered by electricity, would be placed among the onions to collect real-time data about the humidity levels and other predetermined criteria. It will also notify the farmer when the crop starts to spoil.

“Leveraging ‘Internet of Things’ technology, the sensors can pick up the kind of gases released by the onions. When it spoils, there is a spike in certain gases and sulphides. This real-time data can notify the farmer and help him identify which pile of onions are spoiling,” says Kalyani.

Finally, the farmer can either clear the spoiling stock or decide to sell his produce. Kalyani claims this can help a farmer reduce wastage by 20-25%.

To develop the technology, Godaam received funding from the Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research Centre.

In May 2019, the first prototype was installed at Dinkar Katkade’s warehouse. He owns a government graded warehouse and usually experiences 5% wastage during storage.

Inside a 5ftx5ft box in which the onions were placed, one sensor was kept to identify whether the onions were spoiling.

He says, “My storage unit usually holds 20 quintals of onions, and I usually have minimal wastage. The sensors were not as effective as promised as it could not identify the spoilage or the quantity. But the team was prompt with their work and would visit every week to check the status and take readings from the sensor.”

Kalyani says, “The first prototype did not work as planned. But the following versions had the necessary corrections made based on feedback from the farmers, and are installed at some individual as well as government facilities.”

To date, a few individual warehouses have tested the prototype technology, and a pilot test of the third prototype is underway at the DOGR.

If you wish to know more about the technology or the startup, you can visit their website.

(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

Raksha, a Gramin Dak Sevak posted at Sarsoo Post Office in the Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh, walks 10 to 12 kms every day — trekking on the meandering trails in the mountains to deliver mail to people residing in some of the most far-flung villages. Travelling to some of the backward villages means passing through dense jungles on foot – be it summer, winter or monsoon. During the rainy season, especially, the risks increase many fold. Poisonous insects, snakes and other animals hiding in the wild growth pose a huge danger as she walks through the forest to deliver letters.

“I have to deliver the mail and carry pension payments to people in about 15 villages that come under this post office,” says Raksha, whose designation is that of Assistant Branch Post Master (Mail Deliverer). Risky or not, she has to carry on undaunted to ensure that the mails reach their destinations on time. Despite the dangers though, Raksha enjoys her work and is committed to the job.

Shabnam, another woman Gramin Dak Sevak posted at Kolang in Mandi District, agrees that the rainy season is the worst when rills turn into brooks that are difficult to cross. “Four years ago, when I started working, it took me quite some time to adjust to the job, which meant walking for hours. With time, roads and bridges have been constructed, making it much easier to deliver mail to people in the villages that fall under my branch post office,” says Shabnam.

The response of the people towards a woman mail deliverer is really warm and friendly, according to her. Villagers often ask her to rest and have a cup of tea before leaving. They do understand the challenges faced by these women postmasters and as a token of gratitude offer support in different ways. Sometimes they insist on giving her whatever they are growing in their fields. “Especially when I was pregnant, the villagers would give me a ride on their bikes as I walked from one hamlet to another and also offered any other help that I wanted.”

Shilpa, who is currently on deputation as Branch Postmaster in Hatli in Una District, started working as a mail deliverer six years ago. She warmly recalls the response of the people in the villages when she went there to deliver the posts for the first time – “Arre mahilayen bhi dak bant’ti hai kya?” (Do women also distribute mail?). However, villagers have now got used to the idea of women working as post deliverers. “I don’t know how villagers behave with postmen, but people are very gentle with me. If it is hot, and Una is very hot in summers, they insist on offering water and sometimes offer meals as well.”

When Mohini applied for the post of Assistant Branch Postmaster, she had no idea that the job would mean delivering posts and pension payments to the villagers. Every day is fraught with risks of one or the other kind, she says. In the rainy season and during snow fall, it becomes really slippery to walk on the hilly foot paths, up and down the slopes. The roads are isolated and she has to cross through uninhabited areas. But whatever be the situation, she believes, one cannot afford to be lax on the job.

“It is a very responsible job. We have to deliver posts and parcels that may be very important to villagers, especially the delivery of pensions to the old people above 60 years of age who are eagerly waiting for their cash payments,” says Mohini, ABPM at Badagaon Branch Office in Kullu district.

The problem several of these women face is when they get married and their in-laws live away from the place where the women are posted. Managing things smoothly on both the home and job fronts sometimes become quite difficult for them.

Smita Kumar, the Chief Postmaster General of Himachal Pradesh, Postal Circle, says, “The Department tries to be sensitive to the needs of these Gramin Dak Sevaks and accommodates them as much as possible under the rules. They can seek transfers twice in their careers under the new provisions.”

Women Post Deliverers face challenges not only in rural areas but in cities as well. Guddi Devi, working in an urban setting, may not have to wander from village to village but has to confront difficult situations. “I don’t have to visit far off villages but even in the city I have to walk for at least 6 to 7 kms every day. The problem in Kullu is that houses are not numbered, and it takes a lot of time to locate an address. One has to be very cautious as one does not know what kind of people one may come across,” she explains.

None of the women in the field reported any experience of harassment of any kind. But they have another fear, of being assaulted and robbed, especially on occasions when they have to carry huge amounts of cash to be delivered as welfare pensions for old people, or for physically or mentally challenged people who are unable come to the post office to collect their pensions.

There are over two hundred women in the Himachal Pradesh postal circle who work in the field delivering posts in some of the remotest of villages. For this difficult and significant task, these women get anything between Rs 12000-16000 per month. They get yearly increments as well. They can also sit for departmental exams and if they qualify and fulfil the mandatory criterion, they can be absorbed in the department.

The job of delivering letters to people residing in the toughest of terrains is a challenge these women take on with full dedication and sense of responsibility. “It is our duty and we are determined to perform well” is the sentiment expressed by all these gutsy women Gramin Dak Sevaks of the hill state of Himachal Pradesh.

(Written by Sarita Brara)

In August 2014, Aafreen Rehman, an MBA graduate, got married to an Advocate in Indore whom she met through a matrimonial website. Initially, things were going well apart from a few small arguments. She didn’t think of them as something that would greatly affect their relationship. But, after a few months into the marriage, her in-laws began demanding dowry. The demand began with mental harassment and soon escalated to violence.

In October 2015, Aafreen and her mother met with an accident. While Aafreen was left with broken ribs, her mother died on the spot. She needed her husband by her side to take care of her, but he only visited her for 10 days before returning to Indore. Following this, he blocked her on all social media handles, stopped communicating with her, and soon divorced her by sending a written ‘Triple Talaq’ via speed post.

Outraged, Aafreen filed a petition in March 2016 to ban the Triple Talaq in India and got justice in August 2017.

In an inspirational interview with The Better India, Aafreen gives a detailed account of the painful journey, and how she managed to go through so much and stay strong.

Here is the entire post:

“In August 2014, I got married through a matrimonial website to an advocate in Indore. Things were going well apart from a few small arguments which I didn’t really think of as something that would greatly affect our relationship.

In October 2015, my mom and I were travelling at night from Jaipur to Jodhpur on a bus when we met with a terrible accident. I lost my mother on the spot, and I got injured really badly. Seven-eight of my ribs were fractured due to the accident, and my husband came over for 10 days before returning to Indore.

I was staying at my cousin’s place and remember repeatedly asking my husband to come and take me home. I was not able to walk on my own, eat on my own or even sit on my own. I just wanted to go home; I needed my husband.

On November 7, out of the blue, he blocked me from all his social media handles. It shattered my mental health. I had already lost my dad in 2009, and now with the sudden loss of my mother, I had nobody by my side. I had counted on my husband being there for me. So the fact that he suddenly decided to disappear from my life, it left me heartbroken.

I tried communicating with him through multiple means, but there was no reply. I failed to understand what was happening and reached out to my mother-in-law to ask about when they were going to come and take me home. She kept giving me false hope saying ‘Beta, we will come in 4-5 days’.
All this while after the accident, I had nothing with me, neither clothes nor money. My husband left me in a T-shirt, a pyjama and a pair of slippers. I was all on my own.

This continued for over three months before I finally heard from my husband. On 27 January 2016, I received a speed post from him, saying he is giving ‘instant Triple Talaq’ to me. I remember feeling empty. It was that simple for him to give me a divorce. I was wondering how a piece of paper can dissolve a relationship as meaningful as a marriage.

I had nothing left to lose, so I started reading about Triple Talaq and came across instances where Triple Talaq happened over Facebook Messengers or WhatsApp. Outraged, I filed a petition in March 2016 to ban Triple Talaq in India. I barely had any money on me, so I gave my lawyer only Rs. 10,000 and fought with all I had. I also engaged in debates and discussions on news channels.

In August 2017, when the Supreme Court issued the revolutionary judgement banning Triple Talaq in India, I finally felt that all my struggle had been worth it. The SC also passed a judgement saying that there should be a law regarding this, and finally in 2019, the Muslim Marriage Women’s Protection Act was passed.

The journey has been harrowing, especially because I lost my family – my only brother also passed away in 2016. My friends were there by my side, and my cousin supported me during my media journey but overall, I was on my own.

When people ask me how did you make it through so much, I just tell them that tough times make you stronger and it comes from within. We tend to become dependent on others during tough times, but in the end, all you have is yourself.

One essential thing is hope. When I filed the petition against Triple Talaq, even though I was on my own, I carried with me a sense of hope that my efforts will yield results. Just like this, I became the second woman in India to file a petition against Triple Talaq after Shah Bano, who was the first woman to raise her voice against this issue in 1985.

Three other women followed me, and all our struggles have resulted in a change due to our faith in ourselves as well as the judicial system of India.

To all the women who are struggling and staying silent just because of the fear of ‘log kya kahenge’, don’t be afraid to raise your voice. Life always gives you the strength to fight against all that pulls you down.”

– Aafreen Rehman