eShe Jan-Feb 2019

|1 PERSONAL GROWTH Jan-Feb 2019 Vol 3 Issue 1 `150

Ajaita Shah

Her armies of ‘Solar Sahelis’ have ignited social change at India’s grassroots

GLOBAL ICON Nishtha Dudeja, the brave and beautiful Miss Deaf Asia 2018 JAN-FEB 2019

WHEELS OF FREEDOM This women-run scooterdriving academy is out to liberate small-town ladies

NATURAL BEAUTY 4 women helming the new-age wave of luxury Indian beauty

2 | PERSONAL GROWTH

Personal Growth Workshops for Women

SHINE YOUR LIGHT learn | discuss | dance | introspect | network | eat

JAN 12, 2019 • 10.30 - 14.30 INCLUDING COFFEE AND LUNCH ENTRY: RS 1500

BY INVITATION ONLY

Location: Chandni's house, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi To request an invite, call: 783 863 0080

JAN-FEB 2019

contents

46

06

Power Focus

10

Photo Finish

22

Lady with the Solar Lamp

28

Seeking Sparks

31

The New Age of Beauty

57

Colours of Happiness

60

The Sound of Victory

64

Wheels of Freedom

70

The Valley of Mystery

Bridal Drama

Sister duo Monika Nidhii’s latest collection of occasion-wear

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Fashion photographer Richa Maheshwari

11 finalists of the Sahapedia Frames Grant

Cover girl, social entrepreneur Ajaita Shah

Silicon Valley angel investor Asha Motwani

Four new natural Indian beauty brands

Meet renowned artist-activist Rouble Nagi

At home with Miss Deaf Asia 2018

Scooters, small-towns and big dreams

Meditating inside Egypt’s Great Pyramid

4 | EDITOR’S NOTE

THE LIGHT INSIDE

T

here’s something very powerful about women who turn on the light inside themselves.

Invariably, they reach out to help others turn on their lights too. And that’s how, woman by woman, the whole world lights up.

Our cover personality Ajaita Shah has literally turned on the lights using solar power, and lit up the lives of thousands of women and their families in Rajasthan and around India (p.22).

Mathura girl Pawani Khandelwal’s startup teaches women in small towns to ride two-wheelers so that “they can have wings” (p.64). Acclaimed artist Rouble Nagi is painting the slums of India in the colours of happiness (p.57), and has educated 2.5 lakh underprivileged children along the way. Fashion photographer Richa Maheshwari is teaching the blind to click photos (p.06), and Miss Deaf Asia 2018 Nishtha Dudeja is creating awareness about Aekta Kapoor testing babies for hearing impairment (p.60).

Editor and Publisher This month, we’re also launching eShe’s personal aekta@coralcontent.com growth workshops for women, ‘Shine Your Light’.

Designed to be intimate and inspiring, the first edition is in Delhi and, Inshallah, we’ll make our way across India in 2019.

There’s something very powerful about women who are lit up. Are you ready to shine?

Editor and Publisher: Aekta Kapoor Business Director: Kaveri Jain Marketing and Research: Nyamat Bindra (nyamat@coralcontent.com) Brand Managers: Amrita Nagpal, Pallavi Pratap Malik Contributors: Kay Newton, Maya Lalchandani, Dr Urvashi Tandan

Mentor: Kul Bhushan

All rights reserved throughout the world.

Reproduction in any manner is prohibited.

Published by Aekta Kapoor from Coral Content, C3/1 GF, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi 110057, India.

Phone: +91 9818166621. Printed at Modest Graphics (P) Ltd, Shop No.C-53, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase 1, New Delhi 110020. For queries, write to mail@coralcontent.com, or visit eShe.in JAN-FEB 2019

PERSONAL GROWTH | 5

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6 | PHOTOGRAPHY

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POWER FOCUS

PHOTOGRAPHY | 7

Award-winning photographer and TEDx speaker Richa Maheshwari is wasting no time in making the most of life and giving back too

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he first thing that strikes you about Richa Maheshwari is not her stunning looks or the physical strength she casually wields while disciplining her playful Golden Retriever. It is her personal power, a kind of innate leadership quality that lingers around her like perfume. As she moves around her Gurgaon studio, giving instructions and assigning work on a cold winter day, it is obvious that this fashion photographer and entrepreneur has a story unlike any other.

Born in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, Richa was raised by her father and grandmother, and always defied social norms for what girls could or couldn’t do in “typical Marwari families”. Much of the credit for her unconventional life choices goes to her grandmother, who wanted to live out her own ambitions through Richa and her two siblings, and encouraged them to take on personal and professional risks.

“My grandmother passed away in 2015 but she left behind this gender equality and modern mindset JAN-FEB 2019

in our family,” says Richa. “I am 30 years old, but there is no pressure on me to marry. That’s her legacy.”

An exceptional student, Richa went ahead to study fashion communication in college, and simultaneously began teaching English to ensure her own financial independence. A professor noticed her talent in photography and suggested she take it up as a career. Since it wasn’t a mainstream subject, Richa educated herself through research

8 | PHOTOGRAPHY

Richa’s photography clients include beauty and fashion majors, and she shoots her own calendar every year

and multiple interactions with established photographers. She set up her own office in Surat – where she had a considerable network in the textile industry – after graduation.

For many years, Richa straddled

Delhi and Surat, taking on commercial fashion assignments for textile businesses and national apparel brands. Her list of clients now includes Amway, Oriflame, Hamdard, Kalyan Silks, J Hampstead and many JAN-FEB 2019

PHOTOGRAPHY | 9

L-R: Richa (in hat) with her visually challenged students in Delhi; a photo taken by one of her students

more. In 2015, she moved base entirely to Delhi, and hired a team of five full-time staffers and about 20 freelancers on call for shoots.

In the meantime, she gave TEDx talks, visited 42 countries as a solo traveller, tried all kinds of adventure sports, intrepidly fought off an armed stalker in her home, won several awards in documentary filmmaking and photography, and stood up for animal rights. She also went from weighing 72 kg in college to a super-fit 56 kg at present through sustained exercise and a vegetarian diet. And did we mention that she broke the Limca world record in the fitness category for maximum burpees in one minute (48!)?

But it wasn’t enough for Richa.

She also wanted to give back to society by sharing the knowledge. So she began teaching photography to JAN-FEB 2019

an unlikely group of students: those from the National Association for the Blind, Delhi. “One thinks photography is a privilege of only the sighted, but the visually impaired have their own way of perceiving things,” says Richa. “They have a keen sense of distance perception, and are imaginative in their own ways.” She organised the first exhibition of their photos in October 2017, and is planning another one.

Her travel plans carry on unabated: she wants to cover every country in the world in this lifetime.

A host of motivational posters line the walls of Richa’s studio. One of them stares at her straight across her work table: “Life’s too short to think small.Thing big, and don’t listen to people who say it can’t be done.” That may well be the motto of Richa’s life. 

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PHOTO FINISH

Meet the 11 women finalists who made it to Sahapedia’s Frames Photography Grant 2018 and get a peek at the work they are doing to chronicle India’s rich culture and diversity

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ahapedia, an award-winning online encyclopaedic resource on South Asian art and culture, instituted the Frames Photography Grant in 2018 as an exciting opportunity for emerging and professional photographers to explore subjects of cultural importance in India and South Asia.

From over 300 applications in the first edition, about 24 finalists were selected. The process of selection, headed by photographer Dinesh Khanna, was done on the basis of unusual choice of subjects, unique perspectives and commendable camera skills.

“India’s rich and diverse cultures and heritage have always been a fabulous canvas for photographers and artists. However, photographers have not been provided enough support or recognition for the work they

have done on this field. Till the Sahapedia Frames Grants came along to bridge this gap,” says Dinesh, adding, “We have endeavoured to award these grants based on the subject’s uniqueness and relevance and the photographer’s skill and storytelling abilities in bringing our heritage and culture alive.”

Sahapedia also made sure that a large number of women photographers were awarded the grants “so that they get enough support to pursue their passion and also get a platform to share their photo essays,” explains Dinesh.

Here is a peek at the projects these 11 women finalists will work on with their grants. The subjects range from performing and visual arts to architecture, gender, sports, and lesser-known local cultures, communities and age-old traditions.

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PHOTOGRAPHY | 11

DEEPTI ASTHANA Baltis of Kargil (Jammu & Kashmir) JAN-FEB 2019

Inspired by her childhood in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, the focus of Deepti Asthana’s work is gender issues in rural villages and small towns of India. The recipient of various grants and awards, her work has been widely published worldwide. Deepti will be visiting the Kargil region in Kashmir bordering the LoC. She will investigate the relationship Baltis who live in Kargil and its surrounding villages have with their built spaces, terrain and environment, particularly their unique architecture based on traditional techniques and materials.

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A post-graduate from the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Delhi-based Garima Agarwal took up photography out of passion while working in a fashion marketing firm. Fascinated by the architecture and artwork of the Shekhawati region, she will be documenting Mandawa, along with the neighbouring towns of Nawalgarh and Fatehpur. She will look at these not just as abandoned spaces with only museum value, but as living spaces cherished by their owners. She will also investigate how local artists are keeping the Shekhawati art form alive.

GARIMA AGARWAL Shekhawati region (Rajasthan) JAN-FEB 2019

PHOTOGRAPHY | 13

KANZA FATIMA Zardozi (Uttar Pradesh) JAN-FEB 2019

A documentary photographer based in Delhi, Kanza Fatima’s work has centred on women’s issues in the Muslim community.

She has exhibited her work around the world and is pursuing her Master’s from Jamia Millia Islamia. Kanza wants to document the embroidery craft of Zardozi as practised in Lucknow. She will look into the techniques, raw material and creative skill involved in making Zardozi, and investigate the working environments of the local artisans.

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Kirthana Devdas is a commercial photographer based in Chennai with an extensive portfolio of work with private and public entities. Kirthana comes from Panoor, Kerala, and her family has been long associated with the ritual of Thera, a dance drama having roots in the caste dynamics of the state.

Denied access to public spaces of worship, Thera is believed to have been devised by communities belonging to the lower castes as an alternate space for worship and public conversation. The ritual has roots in tribal beliefs of nature, ancestor and hero worship.

KIRTHANA DEVDAS Thera ritual (Kerala) JAN-FEB 2019

PHOTOGRAPHY | 15

NAMRATA TORASKAR Kulbi community (Himachal Pradesh) JAN-FEB 2019

Namrata Toraskar juggles between photography, illustrations, research writing and architecture design. An architecture graduate from Mumbai, she is pursuing her Master’s from CEPT University, Ahmedabad.

Namrata is fascinated with the weaving traditions of the Kulbi community in Kullu Valley.

Kulbi women weave in their homes using throw-shuttle-frame looms, especially during the long isolation of the winter months.

Namrata will look into the sources of raw material, working environment, local markets and the daily lives of the weavers.

16 | PHOTOGRAPHY

Recipient of the Neel Dongre Award for excellence in photography, Richa was schooled at the Centre for Learning, Bengaluru, and studied philosophy at St. Stephen’s, Delhi. The Bengaluru-based freelancer is photographing changing gender representation in Yakshagana, a performing art from coastal Karnataka. Till a few decades ago, Yakshagana was performed exclusively by men, but has now opened up to female performers. Richa will go behind the scenes to document the lives of these women and their transformation into mythical characters.

RICHA BHAVANAM Yakshagana backstage (Karnataka) JAN-FEB 2019

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SHARMISHTA DUTTA Dal Lake ecosystem (Jammu & Kashmir) JAN-FEB 2019

Sharmistha Dutta’s portfolio ranges from portrait photography to fashion. Her photo project ‘Durga’, on discrimination against widows in India, was widely exhibited at international photo festivals and is now a book. Sharmishta will visually capture life on the Dal Lake in Srinagar and how local Kashmiris interact with the water body on a daily basis. She will look into the human geography of the region and how the architecture, crafts, agriculture, transportation and economics of the region are influenced by the intricate eco-system of the Dal Lake.

18 | PHOTOGRAPHY

A media professional, filmmaker, writer and travel photographer, Shatabdi Chakrabarti made her debut as a filmmaker a few years ago with a short film titled The Man and his Saree, which questioned the idea of the ‘gaze’. She has been researching how the ancient practice of tattoo making is slowly fading away and losing its original significance. She will be living with the Baiga community in Madhya Pradesh and will document not only the artwork, but also delve deeper into the significance of the motifs and the traditional process of tattoo making.

SHATABDI CHAKRABARTI Baiga tattoos (Madhya Pradesh) JAN-FEB 2019

PHOTOGRAPHY | 19

SINDHUJA PARTHASARATHY Transgenders of Kashmir Valley (Jammu & Kashmir) JAN-FEB 2019

Sindhuja Parthasarathy is a humanitarian photojournalist based in Chennai. She has worked with various international organisations including UNICEF, and her work has been published worldwide. Sindhuja is a crusader for gender diversity, inclusivity and gender rights. She has worked amongst the transgender communities of southern India and the Northeast, and now wants to expand her research to Kashmir. Through her work, Sindhuja wants to shed light on the social, political and financial challenges faced by transgenders in the northern state.

20 | PHOTOGRAPHY

SR ABBIRAMY Toda textiles (Tamil Nadu)

With a Master’s from the National Institute of Fashion Technology, SR Abbiramy works as a visual merchandiser and has been documenting the different heritage techniques involved with Indian textiles.

Abbiramy will work on the rich textile craft of the Toda tribe living in Tamil Nadu. Increasing exposure to the outside world has modernised their lifestyle, and Abbiramy wants to document how the textile traditions of the tribe are changing over time.

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SUJATA KHANNA Kung Fu nuns (Nepal) JAN-FEB 2019

Delhi-based Sujata Khanna is a social documentary photographer and has worked with several humanitarian organisations.

Sujata will document the Druk Gawa Khilwa nunnery in Kathmandu, Nepal, home to the only female order to practise Kung Fu. Besides Nepal, nuns from across the Himalayas come to live here, each with a unique story about why they became nuns. In an inherently patriarchal Buddhist monastic system, the nunnery stands as a testament to changing perceptions about women and their empowerment through martial arts.

22 | COVER STORY

THE LADY WITH THE SOLAR LAMP

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COVER STORY | 23

With her social enterprise that equips rural women with technology and training, Ajaita Shah is powering a wave of sustainable development

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By Aekta Kapoor

he was born and raised in New York, but for Ajaita Shah, it is the hinterlands of India where her life’s work lies. The 34-year-old has created a network of thousands of women entrepreneurs called ‘Solar Sahelis’, along with institutional partners and agri-retailers, to generate employment, encourage sustainable development, and empower rural women in their households and communities. And she’s just getting warmed up.

When Ajaita speaks, one can’t help but remember Shah Rukh Khan’s lines from the Bollywood film Swades: “I don’t believe our country is the best country in the world, but I do believe that we have the potential and the strength to make our country the best.” Mohan, the film’s protagonist, gives up his life in the US to work in his ancestral village in India and, in the process, discovers his own calling.

It isn’t very different from Ajaita’s own story. Her parents moved to the US in the 1980s with their ‘Jaipur-Jain-jewellery community’.

The first US-born child in the family, Ajaita had to balance two very different cultures. “My American culture taught me to discover, exJAN-FEB 2019

plore, assimilate, embrace diversity, dream big to do big things in life, become a global citizen. My Indian culture reinforced the opposite – stay within your limits, ‘act like a girl’, retain my Indian identity,” says the Jaipur-based entrepreneur. The only dream girls like her were allowed was to marry a good Indian boy and become a homemaker.

Naturally, this came with conflict.

Ajaita (second from left) was the Grand Champion for the Global Innovation through Science and Technology Catalyst pitch competition 2017

“I knew that to balance my reality, I’d need to get good at negotiating, mediation and conflict resolution,” she recalls. While in college, she travelled to Europe to study European Relations with the US during the Iraq War, and went through

24 | COVER STORY

Mediation and Conflict Resolution training in the Hague. She also studied in Spain and worked at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in Washington DC.“I realised that if I wanted to be a global citizen or a changemaker, I would need to embrace my understanding of culture and history and focus on South Asia, and especially India,” she says.

But the solution was not so simple. India had a rural reality – 70 percent of India required better infrastructure. “That struck me a lot – the opportunity to explore social business and tackling the deep challenges of rural India, and using a model that was commercial,” says Ajaita. At 22, she moved to India to understand microfinance. One year became five years of village hopping and learning about the realities and the struggles of rural women and rural households.

“During my visit to different villages, I realised that many of these women were married at 14, had zero exposure to the outside world, were told that marriage is the only future, and that being homemakers is the only option. By the time they turned 30, many already have five

children. They often told me, ‘If I had the education, if I had the skills, if I had the opportunity to explore, I would have been different’.”

This made Ajaita angry, partly because she could personally relate to it. “Who decides that daughters are not as valuable as sons? What are our societal destinies based on? Clearly not capability, right?” she fumed.

It was Ajaita’s ‘aha’ moment. “Unlike these women, I have the ability to negotiate my reality. I have the education and the responsibility to be something more than At the UN Climate Change what was expectConference ed of ‘just girls’,” 2017 in Bonn, she decided. But Germany while she was setting up the roots of her social enterprise Frontier Markets (FM), she also had to give in to her parents’ demand for an arranged marriage when she was 25.

The enterprise was successful, the marriage was not. Ajaita was divorced by the time she was 29. The same year, she made to the Forbes India’s ‘30 Under 30’ list. Accolades followed: she is a 2006 Clinton Service Corp Fellow, 2012 Echoing Green Fellow, and a 2013 Cordes Fellow.

Based in Rajasthan, her social enterprise FM creates access to clean JAN-FEB 2019

COVER STORY | 25

Ajaita (seated left) with her Solar Sahelis, whom she calls her ‘talvaar’. There are 2,500 of them across India

energy products that improve the lives of those in rural households.

They do this with their network of rural entrepreneurs who are at the centre of change as rural distributors for these products (now numbering 15), while earning income for themselves and their families.

These 5,000 entrepreneurs have been economic drivers for 500,000 households in Rajasthan impacting more than 3.1 million lives.

Simultaneously, they also serve as data miners, mapping customer insights to help FM understand product demands, plan marketing campaigns, and how to support the network. This has allowed them to introduce efficient new solutions and products to rural households JAN-FEB 2019

and achieve last-mile reach.

Core to their work is FM’s Solar Saheli program. “Women are highly entrepreneurial. And yet, they are held back due to a severe financing and skills gap that often marginalizes them, to the detriment of their families and communities,” says Ajaita, who has been a speaker at prestigious global forums, including the UN, for climate change and sustainable development.

Now numbering 2,500, Ajaita’s Solar Sahelis are more than just sales agents for FM. “They are market connectors, service providers and changemakers,” says Ajaita, proudly narrating the story of Kamlesh, from Dholpur, Rajasthan, who has helped over 300 households access

26 | COVER STORY

Top: The Solar Sahelis giving a demonstration. They earn multiple streams of income – from activities and sales of products – which they invest and use for their children’s education and family stability.

solar-lighting solutions, and taught over 3,000 people how to use a smart phone and connect to the internet. We invited her to Jaipur last year at the Lit Fest to meet the chief minister. Kamlesh was brilliant. After the meeting, she started crying. I asked her what happened. She said, ‘Didi, look at what I am doing here, and it’s so sad to hear the things people are saying in my village.’”

On prodding further, Ajaita learnt that when Kamlesh left her village, her brother-in-law spread a rumour that she was getting into prostitution, because in her village, women only left for Jaipur for that reason.

Ajaita took Kamlesh’s picture with the chief minister, framed it, and gave it to her to show her brother-

in-law. When she reached Dholpur, her father-in-law took the photo to the village heads, held Kamlesh’s hand high, and said, “See, this is my daughter-in-law. She has done what none you can ever achieve in your dreams. She is the future.”

At that moment, Kamlesh asked her father-in-law for her reward: To educate her own daughter and marry her only when she was ready.

“Kamlesh saved her daughter from child marriage, and started a project to help all Sahelis in her village save their daughters too,” says Ajaita.

FM has a 2023 vision of reaching over 20,000 women entrepreneurs and impacting 35 million lives in multiple states of India. “Being an entrepreneur in this marJAN-FEB 2019

COVER STORY | 27

Ajaita was a panelist at the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in New York in July 2018 where she spoke about unlocking access to sustainable energy, finance and technology

ket takes time, because the hurdles her army of Solar Sahelis – she calls are greater. At times when things them her ‘talvaar’ (sword) – for takwere the hardest – from a divorce, ing her vision forward. “And now to having a co-founder step away, I also have these 500,000 families. to getting in a car How many people accident, to govcan say that they “WOMEN ARE HIGHLY ernment policies can go wherever ENTREPRENEURIAL. BUT like demonetizathey want to in tion that kill cash THEY ARE HELD BACK DUE Rajasthan and be economies overTO A SEVERE FINANCING welcomed with night – you have freshly cooked AND SKILLS GAP” to stay grounded food and a warm and calm, and adsmile? I have creamantly continue ated the coolest moving forward. Millions of people family ever!” she enthuses. now turn to us for help. The work “Apne hi paani mein pighalna barf cannot end because of challenges ka mukkadar hota hai [ice is destined along the way,” says Ajaita. to melt in its own water],” goes the She credits her team of 50 for iconic dialogue from Swades. Ajaita helping her evolve as a leader, and is immersed in her destiny.  JAN-FEB 2019

28 | PHILANTHROPY

SEEKING SPARKS

Silicon Valley-based serial angel investor Asha Jadeja Motwani has an eye out for social enterprises, especially those headed by women

W

hen Asha Jadeja Motwani speaks, throngs of entrepreneurs gather around and listen. The US-based serial angel investor was in India recently to launch a one-

of-a-kind think tank that will promote disruptive technology out of India. “The idea is to foster tighter bonds between Silicon Valley and India,� says the venture capitalist, who admits she has a soft spot for JAN-FEB 2019

PHILANTHROPY | 29

women-led social enterprises. the most optimistic time for womOne of the reasons for her bias en entrepreneurs in the history of is that women face greater chal- our planet,” she affirms. lenges both within the home and A celebrated philanthropist and outside it. “Of course, challenges founder of ‘MakerFest’ in India, are everywhere, not just for wom- Brazil, Pakistan and Africa, Asha en,” she tells eShe. “That said, 2018 was also greatly exposed to Silicon has been a pivotal year for women. Valley culture through her late husThe #MeToo and #TimesUp cam- band Rajeev Motwani, who was a paigns have put the spotlight not Stanford Professor, an internationjust on sexual harassment at work- ally acclaimed computer scientist places but also on how skewed the and theoretician. He was the archigender balance is in most industries. tect of Google’s algorithmic archiPeople have started becoming very tecture, and had in fact mentored conscious of the fact Larry Page and Sergey that in these big tech “THIS IS THE MOST Brin, co-founders of companies there are, Inc, in 1998 at OPTIMISTIC TIME Google like, three women in a Stanford University.

FOR WOMEN whole department full Following in his of men.” thought philosophy, ENTREPRENEURS Asha, who completAsha’s new non-profit IN THE HISTORY ed her Ph.D in politithink tank, christened cal science from UniOF OUR PLANET” MITLI (Motwani Inversity of California at stitute of Thought Berkeley after doing Leadership in Innovaher Master’s in urban planning and tion), will facilitate exchanges in accivil engineering from the Univer- ademic fields such as computer scisity of Southern California, is “de- ence, education, health-tech, policy lighted” that the #MeToo move- design and political science. “My ment has caught on in India, and vision is to catalyze innovation and that concrete action has been taken entrepreneurship in India at the against sexual predators. “Here, the grassroots level,” says Asha, who has level of sexual harassment is worse. invested in more than a hundred So I’m glad women are speaking up. high social impact startups in the This movement is also opening the Bay Area, Boston, New York, Africa door to the fact that women should and India, some of which have behave equal access to jobs, they are come public companies. equal citizens, and should have an Asha has also launched the annuequal voice at the workplace.This is al Rajeev Circle Fellowship, with JAN-FEB 2019

30 | PHILANTHROPY

Asha Jadeja Motwani at TiE Global Summit in New Delhi in November 2018

the objective of developing a dyWe need to have more confernamic corridor of entrepreneur- ences centred on women in tech, ship, collaboration and community Asha goes on. “There are a few between Silicon Valwomen here and ley and South Asia. there on certain fo“WE NEED MORE “We had 60 Fellows rums, but the critical BADASS WOMEN ON this year, of which mass is missing. We 40 are women,” says STAGE. WHEN THAT need more badass Asha, as an example HAPPENS, WE WILL women on stage,” of affirmative action she says. “When that SEE A TIPPING POINT.” to increase women’s happens, we will participation in the see a tipping point. world of tech. She When women are cites the case of Kalyani Khona, unafraid to voice their opinions and founder of INCLOV, a dating app are unafraid of being judged, then for people with disabilities, who we’ll see true change.” was a Rajeev Fellow and whose Asha ends on an optimistic note: app has broken ground both in the “These are good times for women. world of dating and technology.

They must ride the change.”  JAN-FEB 2019

BEAUTY BUSINESS | 31

LEADING THE NEW AGE OF INDIAN BEAUTY These entrepreneurs are reinventing the beauty landscape in India and offering the luxury consumer a whole new world of natural beauty

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32 | BEAUTY BUSINESS

RAJNI OHRI

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ajni Ohri started making beauty products from home as a hobby while she was still a homemaker raising two children. And then, a year ago, at age 40, she set up her own company Ohria to sell natural beauty brands and, like her friends would say, “went commercial”.

Her plunge into the $950 million Indian beauty market that grows at

Ohria Ayurveda

15–20 percent a year wasn’t an impulsive decision. Rajni, who studied design from the National Institute of Fashion Technology and prior to that English literature, had long been obsessed with the miracles that Ayurveda offered. At a much younger age, she had travelled to Rishikesh, a place considered holy by the Hindus, to master traditional Ayurveda from an acharya there.

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BEAUTY BUSINESS | 33

Notably, Rajni was only 12 when she experimented with producing a skin cream by herself.Though it did not turn out perfect, she loved the whole process of making it since it was a 100 percent natural product, she recalls.

“My love for nature made me inquisitive to learn Ayurveda as my parents used to visit Rishikesh every year for their religious trips,” narrates Rajni.The more she learnt, the more she felt drawn towards Ayurveda. “Under the acharya’s guidance, I learned about the preparation of hair oils, butters and salves, pishti, bhasms, and so on.”

Rajni feels that the most important part of making authentic natural beauty products, like the ones her company makes, is sourcing from the right place and from the right people. Ohria Ayurveda sources all sacred and potent herbs and plants from the Himalayas and other reliable sources. She also uses “secret formulations” that she had picked up from her teacher. “I have used the knowledge I have gained from my teacher in nurturing and developing each and every product JAN-FEB 2019

with love and passion,” she says.

The final product is a luxurious Ayurvedic formulation crafted in a bottle, she affirms. “Each product has a preparation process using oils, butters, salves, plants and herbs, and mantras are chanted at an appropriate time before sunrise,” she says.

The product portfolio of Ohria ranges from bathing bars, mists, moisturisers, serums, facial cleansers to body lotions, hydrating gels, shower wash, shower oils, body butter and much more. Ohria also offers customised gifts.

The spiritually inclined Rajni pays utmost attention to balancing Panchamahabhutas (the five basic elements) in her products.

A London-trained aromatherapist, she says Ohria products are a superfood for skin and hair. She herself leads an Ayurvedic lifestyle and chants mantras regularly.

A piece of advice from her master that she treats like gold dust is: “to be insanely clear about your goal and to be insanely patient in pursuing it and insanely persistent till you achieve what you set out for”. The outcome, she insists, is that success will kneel at your feet. 

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RAGINI MEHRA Beauty Source

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ore people are veering away from chemically created beauty products than ever before, and Ragini Mehra knows it only too well. People of her generation had for long battled allergies – apart from other skin complications like acne and even eczema caused by those products – before they embraced gentler nourishment for the skin. Even so, availability of worldclass skincare products that are a perfect blend of cutting-edge technology and natural ingredients remained scarce in India, until now.

Which was why Ragini decided to fill the gap with Beauty Source, which pools the best of such products from across the world and sells them in the country that is one

of the world’s fastest growing markets for high-end beauty products.

A few days of application of the products she supplies – especially hair and face oils from the Sans [ceuticals] line – validates the definiteness of her choices and the dexterity of her research.

In fact, Ragini’s love for natural skincare and haircare products is an extension of her decades-old fascination for organic and healthy foods that promote wellness. Three years before she launched Beauty Source, she had set up in 2012 an online grocery to sell organic produce as well as beauty products.

“People are very aware of what they eat and apply to their skin,” says Ragini, “and Beauty Source aims to transform perceptions, to defeat mediocrity and to expand horizons. These days, with the click of a button, one can search for products best suited to their skin type and see the use of ingredients.With Beauty Source we have managed to create a brand for people who understand and believe in quality. We have built our customer base over the years.”

A veteran of 16 years in the wellness and beauty industry, Ragini is born into a family where the spirit of entrepreneurship runs deep.

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She is the granddaughter of the late MS Oberoi, founder of the Oberoi group of hotels. An alumnus of the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design where she studied interior design, she has had a stunning career in a raft of segments including interior design, hospitality, corporate and residential, with the high and mighty of the country as clients. She had also been the managing partner at Silhouette Salon de Beauté salon, and later founder of Silhouette Retail, which sells natural cosmetic labels, before she launched the Kirana JAN-FEB 2019

Shop and Beauty Source.

Carefully curated to perfection with great rigour, she stresses that the products she handpicks to sell in India “are selected not only for their quality and effectiveness, but also for the safety of their ingredients”. She is careful not to expose her customers to skin irritants.

Ragini, a single mother of a 24-year-old, now looks to expand further by partnering with more online and offline retailers, spas and salons. Opportunity has struck in a big way, she feels. 

36 | BEAUTY BUSINESS

SHUBHIKA JAIN

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hubhika Jain learnt the ropes about making natural beauty concoctions from her mother who had a natural obsession with gardening, and who also experimented with plant products.

For instance, she made beauty lotions from flowers, herbs and other natural ingredients based on formulas passed on through generations.

“This practice is what first inspired

Ras Luxury Oils

me to inculcate a natural beauty regimen,” says the daughter, emphasizing that her brand, RAS Luxury Oils (pronounced ‘ruh-us’), is meant for an international clientele.

Shubhika benefited from her illustrious Raipur-based business family in more ways than one. After she grew up and joined the family business in the agri-biotech segment, she began handling the comJAN-FEB 2019

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pany’s essential oils and aromatic crop division. It was during this period that she realised the potency of the products the company made and supplied to perfumers and others. She notes: “It made me believe in our product and its healing properties and that we could give back to society and contribute in a positive way with our expertise in oils, helping people lead a holistic chemical-free life.”

Her efforts also coincided with a new trend: of Indian customers moving away from over-the-counter beauty products and looking for natural solutions to beauty problems. Shubhika decided to ride the opportunity that lay waiting. “What you apply on your body is absorbed and slowly starts accumulating in tissues and fatty deposits,” she says, adding that “even small chemical deposits cause major mutations and many of the new diseases have a lot to do with our lifestyle choices”.

She goes on: “With the global natural and organic movement, people are becoming more aware of the ingredients that go into the products they use and want to eat better food, wear better clothes, and apply better products on their bodies.”

The RAS Luxury Oils range includes body oils, body polishes, essential oils and face serums.They are 100 percent natural and all ingredients sourced from ethical farmers.

The non-sticky oils seep into the JAN-FEB 2019

skin naturally, and the experience is indeed ‘liquid luxury’. The brand retails through various online and offline outlets, including five-star hotel spas in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Bengaluru and Chandigarh.

Shubhika, meanwhile, points out that working out of a non-Metro city like Raipur offers her many advantages. This is a spot closer to our farmlands and supports farmers as well as our research lab and the manufacturing facility, she explains. “So we are able

to maintain high quality and high standards of production from farm to bottle and oversee it ourselves.” However, travelling frequently to big cities for work ends up consuming a lot of time and energy, says Shubhika, whose company sets aside 10 percent of its profits for local NGOs that work towards the uplift of the girl child as well as for animal welfare. 

38 | BEAUTY BUSINESS

NANDEETA MANCHANDAA Enn’s Closet

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hey say the obstacles are the path. After a brief internship at an online multi-designer platform in Delhi, Nandeeta Manchandaa launched Enn’s Closet to retail quality Western-wear for urban fashionistas in India.

But soon after she launched,

into their bottom line as women stopped spending on beauty goods.

But the newlywed Nandeeta was in no mood to give up. Still convinced about the potential in online retail, she decided to launch her own range of herbal beauty products, and managed to do so in six months.

Today, the Delhi-based entrepreneur’s label, which continues to be called Enn’s Closet, offers a range of 60 products, from face masks and lipsticks to luxurious moisturizers and even an ‘eyebrow and eyelash cream’. “Our products are all natural, made using high-quality ingredients sourced from all around India.

There is a high design quotient in the marketing and retail,” says the 31-year-old, who has studied fashion marketing from Parsons fashion e-retail giants like Jabong School of Design, New York. and Koovs overran smaller online “India is amazing,” she goes on. boutiques like hers. Regrouping “There is so much to do, and we and redefining her product range, have so much available,” she says, Nandeeta began stocking beau- referencing India’s beauty herity products from over 40 different tage. The beauty range she offers is brands, and had a stroke of luck: the unique in many ways: both earthy category sold very well. and luxurious at the same time.

The corporate finance gradu- Their Rose Cream, for instance, ate from the University of Aus- uses genuine Damascus rose oil tin at Texas then faced another sourced from Chennai, and they are roadblock: demonetization. It tore now working on a hydrating moisJAN-FEB 2019

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turizer made with ghee.

“We take one traditionally used ingredient and then innovate with ways to present it to a contemporary audience. There’s a lot of research that goes into each product,” she informs.

All the ingredients are sourced from certified manufacturers, and the firm’s nine-member team works hard to ensure a personalized retail experience. The product range has been designed keeping its millennial consumer in mind – there are 24 shades of lipstick alone – and application is simple. “Masks were our first category,” explains Nandeeta, “but then we wanted to be a daily part of our customers’ lives so we decided to expand our range.” Eight new products are slated for the near future.

For Nandeeta, who did her schooling from Modern School in Delhi, inspiration for new products can come from anywhere, including her frequent travels. “I only believe in nature for healing, and I even look to nature for ideating,” she shares. Being an entrepreneur JAN-FEB 2019

also means being on call from 7 am to 2 am, she jokes, adding that her husband of five years has now accepted her busy schedule.

“I love India, I am a real believer in Indian values and traditions,” says the young businesswoman. “One can find a lot of potential in one’s own roots.” 

40 | ENTREPRENEUR

KEEPING IT

STRAIGHT

Young entrepreneur Sargam Dhawan has brought in Israeli hairstyling technology to India and runs the show from a small town in north India

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argam Dhawan was 22 when she caught on to an idea that would soon be something big around the world and in India. It was the latest hair-straightening technology developed by an Israeli electrical engineering and physics expert,

Sharon Rabi, who has since been recognized as one of the world’s leading inventors.

Sargam joined hands with Sharon to distribute the product in India. Today, the Dafni hair straightening brush is a must-have tool in the beauty industry and in the luxJAN-FEB 2019

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urious homes of jetsetting Indian women, especially those with unruly hair. And Sargam manages it all from Dehradun, a small bustling town in Uttar Pradesh.

Now 24, Sargam credits her school and US education for bringing out the entrepreneurial bug in her. “At Welham Girls School in Dehradun, we are taught how to tackle any kind of situation life throws at us. We were also taught to always choose the harder right than the easier wrong! This has given me the confidence to believe in myself,” she says.

Sargam did her Bachelor’s in communication and filmmaking from University at Buffalo, New York. She first came across the Dafni hair straightening brush when her businessman father went to Israel in 2016 and bought one for her to try. “Needless to say, it was love at first sight,” laughs Sargam, who now uses it every morning.

Meeting Sharon was an inspirational experience for the young girl: “What I’ve learnt from her is that when you can dream it, you can do it! She is not just a successful entrepreneur, but a wonderful person. I am so glad to have met her.”

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Sargam launched Tressmart to distribute Dafni in India, and soon added a makeup brush cleanser and dryer called StylPro to her repertoire. “The idea is to add more such products that make our dayto-day lives easier,” she explains.

Today, Dafni is sold across various online and offline channels from e-commerce fashion and beauty biggies like Nykaa, Myntra and Jabong to spas such as Jean Claude Biguine and the Silhouette Salon. “Our customers are women who are passionate about beauty and who actively seek revolutionary beauty products,” explains Sargam, who has recently launched Dafni Allure, the cordless version of the hair brush, priced at Rs 14,999.

The best part about operating from her hometown, according to Sargam, is that it’s a familiar and comfortable surrounding that helps her utilise her maximum potential.

Of course, the obvious challenge is competing with metropolitan cities where opportunities are greater. But then, Sargam isn’t one to flinch: “It’s not going to be easy, but always put in your best and learn to believe in yourself!” 

42 | PERSONAL GROWTH

COMPOUND ACTION = TRANSFORMATION Instead of New Year Resolutions, start the New Year with simple daily steps, compounded over time. They have the power to transform your life

H

By Kay Newton

ave you heard the story of the chess inventor and the emperor? The emperor was so amazed with the game, he granted the inventor any reward he wanted. The inventor asked for rice. But there was a condition – the first square of the chess board would have one grain of rice, the second two, the third four and so

on, doubling the amount on every square. The emperor happily granted this. But it soon became apparent that the chess inventor had been very clever. There was simply not enough rice in the whole world to fill the final square!

This story of chess follows the principal of compound interest.

The importance of doubling monJAN-FEB 2019

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ey through reinvestment to make gains is not a new one.Yet, have you thought of the same principal for your daily actions? It’s the concept of ‘compound actions’, those small step-by-step daily movements forward that generate a huge change over time. Anyone can achieve such simple habits and I recommend them to my clients regularly.

Here are three women’s thoughts on the principal of compound action and how it has changed their lives and that of others too.

SASKIA VAN DE RIET Saskia Van de Riet originally trained as an engineer, yet it was the written word she loved the most.

She worked for many years in the Saskia Van de Riet

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Dutch construction industry and then moved to the UK to design hospitals for an international firm of architects. Given the need to be bilingual, it seemed a natural progression for Saskia to train and work as a translator, and for the next 14 years this became her career. It took Saskia nearly 50 years to realise that writing was also in her blood.

She says, “My love of writing wasn’t conscious. It has been something I could not stop, a part of who I am.Yet it took time for it to occur to me that this is where I feel most at home. Writing, to me, was a way of communicating, yet I never felt safe to express my inner truths directly onto paper.When I wrote my real truths, my life changed.”

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L-R: A painting by artist Griselda Cann Mussett; the artist describes herself as a ‘laughaholic’

Today Saskia helps other female entrepreneurs also write from their heart and tell their real truths even if it feels scary. One of her mottos is, “Don’t let your thoughts lead your writing, let your writing lead you.”

The compound action of regular writing created Saskia’s own transformation. “The more I write, the better the writing becomes, and I become a better person too. With this experience I can help others.”

Saskia’s writing business, which first started by helping others with blogs, has now expanded to content writing that engages and converts clients into loyal customers.

“It makes me happy to teach and guide female legacy entrepreneurs in step-by-step actions, to create content for their business in an intuitive way so they can live, love and leave their own legacy,” she says.

GRISELDA CANN MUSSETT “If you had said to me at 20 that I would be fortunate enough to afford to buy paintings, sculpture and artworks of different kinds each month, over 50 years, and create a large art collection, I would have laughed. Today my baby passion has taken on a life of its own,” says the 70-year-old Griselda Cann Mussett, artist, writer and “laughaholic”.

Griselda, who once worked for the BBC, would often find herself in situations where she did not agree with others yet did not have the self-possession or courage to say ‘I don’t agree with that’. “I barely had the courage to say anything to myself! I have learned it using compound actions. Not to bully or be bullied, not to be driven by groupthink, not to follow the crowd, not to compete about displaying riches JAN-FEB 2019

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– these were all frustrations in my life. It wasn’t until I began to steadily reinforce and increase my courage and ability to stand up for what I believe in did my life change,” she says. Griselda now passionately supports her local community, and has set up three successful organisations.

She elaborates, “It’s a good idea to let go of expectations as you do not

Trina Kavanagh-Thomas

know what the outcome of your compound action will be. It often leads to things you never anticipated. Whether it’s putting a few coins into a jar, or tidying just one shelf, what starts off difficult will become easier as you get used to it.” Griselda has a word of caution: Time itself is compound, it is incremental.

“When you are young, you don’t know how the days will add up.

Have the courage to be yourself!”

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TRINA KAVANAGH-THOMAS Trina Kavanagh-Thomas is shaping a revolutionary movement to enhance the health of 100 million people, no mean feat in itself, yet her compound actions have meant things have really taken off in the last 12 months. The UK-based former personal trainer says, “In May, I decided to take an online challenge and failed within the first few days!

So I regrouped and promised myself that whatever challenge came my way next, I was going to take it wholeheartedly. It never occurred to me that diligently doing the work of the Brand Builder Challenge, every single day for 30 days, would mean I actually won first place!”

From that moment on, Trina’s life became “wonderfully crazy”. “I went from becoming a co-author, to getting UK NHS doctors moving during a wellbeing event, and creating a coaching academy with world experts,” she says.

The little steps have helped Trina work through depression, money and family issues. For her, discipline and compound action are synonymous. She says, “Structure is key; it has to be worked on daily, each strategy defined in small steps. It enables me to have better space in my diary to connect with others.

And the compound action of helping others is how you change the world. It becomes the icing on the cake.You can take a bite too.” 

46 | FASHION

BRIDAL DRAMA

Sister duo Monika Nidhii’s latest collection of occasion-wear is an ode to tradition with a dash of bohemian drama

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ne is a fashion designer, the other has a background in engineering. Together, the sister-duo Monika and Nidhii run a designer label that focuses on offbeat themes, researching international trends extensively and finding a way for them to enter the Indian realm. Their sustainably

handcrafted winter-festive collection Zia is a nod to Awadh’s rich and still relevant legacy. And with it, the ladies are out to “usher in an era of unhurriedness”. Why must being ‘busy’ be glorified?

Based in Delhi, Monika Chaudhary, 34, loved styling different outfits as a child, so studying fashion JAN-FEB 2019

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design at National Institute of Fashion Technology was the natural choice for her. In 2006, she launched her own label, and was later joined by her sister, Nidhii, who brought in her technical expertise and spearheaded the process of strategically positioning the brand.

“I always could sense the potential behind Monika’s designing sensibilities and believe she can create something different and fresh to present to the world.

I decided to join her in 2012,” says Nidhii, 36.

Over the years, the label has grown and is now donned by the likes of Bollywood personalities and fashionistas, from Sonakshi Sinha, Vidya Balan, Swara Bhaskar, Aditi Rao Hydari, Kriti Sanon and Dia Mirza, to Pooja Hegde, Mira Rajput, Nusrat Barucha, Manushi Chhillar, Anaita Shroff Adajania and many more.

Monika and Nidhii are known for transforming regular Indian wear into fusion wear that can be worn in different ways. They also invest much time and resources into fabric development. Having showcased their label at Lakme Fashion Week, the sisters realised that a strong sisterly bond makes for a strong brand. “We are very different and at the same time have similar goals in life as individuals and that is our biggest strength,” they affirm.

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Photography: Omkar Chitnis Creative direction and styling: “Who Wore What When” Hair and makeup: Pratiksha Nair Jewellery: Surbhi Didwania JAN-FEB 2019

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This season, Monika has looked at international go-to trends like jackets and larger-thanlife couture outfits and colours, and incorporated them into the bridal lehenga. “With Indian embroideries and a contemporary presentation, we give it a modern fairytale twist,” she explains. She gives the example of a look from the Zia collection that incorporates traditional Indian mirror embroidery and the centuries-old craft of chikankari in versatile pieces that can be later utilised as separates and clubbed with party wear. “Our embroideries keep you connected to tradition in the most soulful way,” she adds.

Mostly monotone in palette, the garments are inspired by the luxurious slowness that characterised the artistic pursuits of the Awadh period. “The clothes exhibit an undeniable craft, process and warmth that can be found in the art and architecture of the Awadhi dynasty,” the label’s collection note describes.

“Our label is for strong girls who are very sure about their individuality and cherish their inner self,” explains Nidhii.

The new collection includes light-as-air kurtas, shararas, mirror-work cholis and voluminous lehengas. “The essence of it is about making something that embraces your body, rather than overpowering it,” the designers sign off.  JAN-FEB 2019

54 | PERFORMING ARTS

LIVIN’ THE BLUES

Rajni Shivaram, who studied biotechnology and then reinvented herself as a blues singer, shares the outcome of following her passion

R

Photography by Meghana Sastry

aised in Bengaluru, Rajni Shivaram was all set to follow every south Indian parent’s dream. Armed with a Master’s degree in biotechnology

from BIT Mesra after having done her engineering in the same stream, the young woman started out on a promising science career. But then the blues called, and Rajni followed.

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“I’ve been singing ever since I was a kid. Music was something that came very naturally to me, although it took me years to hone my skills and understand that it takes a lot more hard work than people give it credit for!” says the 27-yearold music entrepreneur with Fuzia. For the past two years, she has sung with one of the pioneer blues bands of the country, The Chronic Blues Circus, and now has a band of her own, Midnight Poppies, which mostly plays original music.

Why was she attracted to the blues? “Simply because it is the layman’s music,” she shrugs. “Everyone has the blues! It was developed by the black American slaves who worked in the cotton fields, singing about their everyday woes. It was all they ever had. It is simple music that each of us can connect with at some level.”

Rajni admits she was always a sensitive young girl. In fact, she would cry listening to KD Lang sing. “I thought I was cursed like that; I would love and get hurt very easily.

Not until did music come into my life that I realise it was more of a boon than a bane. I could express myself quite well, because I ‘feel’ so much. Any piece of music I sing should be meaningful for me to be able to express myself really well.”

She still cries while singing songs like Fleetwood Mac’s Songbird, or Leonard Cohen’s Bird on the wire.

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One of her own band’s original compositions, Don’t look back, has a similar effect on her. “We are all bound in so many ways and yet are trying to free ourselves from the cage we are all put in. Some songs have the power to move anyone, and love is something that tran-

scends every negative feeling that ever exists,” says Rajni, who credits her “incredibly talented guitarist” and friend Sangeeta Agnes Hosea for putting their band together.

A bassist, multi-instrumentalist and singer, Sangeeta started Midnight Poppies to give wings to ideas that would pop into her head

56 | PERFORMING ARTS

at midnight after a long, hard day’s work. After recording one album, Sangeeta wanted something more, and approached Rajni and a couple of other friends to form a band.

Given that music has given Rajni strength to deal with challenges and to move away from toxic people and situations, she takes every opportunity to share the knowledge.

you connect with yourself and those around you. It teaches you empathy, and how important it is to love and be loved,” she often tells students. It’s also a great way to vent out one’s frustration and transport oneself to another world. “At the same time, it can convey the deepest, darkest feelings that wouldn’t be possible otherwise,” she says.

L-R: Sangeeta and Rajni performing their original blues numbers at a Bengaluru school

Along with Sangeeta, Rajni is often to be found at schools around town, giving performances to students and introducing them to the art form. “Instead of celebrities, I think young people today are more inspired by everyday people doing their jobs to perfection, putting their heart and soul into it,” she says.

It helps that music has got Rajni closer to that infinity she calls “God”. “It is something that helps

Having challenged social conventions, both in terms of a professional detour and choosing to be single, Rajni often faces “nasty” situations in life and showbiz.

“I stick to the people I trust and believe in, and I am not easily enticed by the offers that come my way. Respect for my art has kept me going,” Rajni affirms. “It is an uphill task, really, but it is something I am ready to take on.”  JAN-FEB 2019

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COLOURS OF HAPPINESS

Artist and social activist Rouble Nagi is using the healing power of art to enliven Mumbai’s slums and educate underprivileged children

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By Maya Lalchandani

aking a turn into Bandra, one sights a Rouble Nagi mural that points you in the direction of the energetic Mumbai suburb. The artist, sculptor and social activist, has made her presence known in more ways than one.

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At 38, petite and articulate, Rouble wears her sense of social responsibility like a coat of armour. With the Rouble Nagi Art Foundation (RNAF), she has taken art to the masses and was one of the pioneers to beautify Mumbai with her

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art installations. Rouble’s initiative, ‘Misaal Mumbai’, a first of its kind, is a slum-painting exercise (with a million volunteers) that holds workshops to encourage sanitation and education.

sculptures over 15 years of work.

But what’s more interesting is how she has used her personal talent for a social cause. Her foundation works with 2.5 lakh children conducting art workshops throughout the country, and runs 62 balwadis to promote education. They are currently painting more than 30 slums and villages across Maharashtra besides several other parts of the country. That’s over 46,000 houses!

“We take over slums and villages, and make a database of how many kids don’t go to school, including dropouts. Then we educate them,” says Rouble. “My aim is to see India 100 percent literate.”

Originally from Jammu & Kashmir, Rouble was born into an army background. Her interest in art developed when she was just four years old, and all her incessant experimenting ultimately led her to become an artist, muralist and sculptor. “The day I stop experimenting, I may as well be dead,” she says.

She credits her husband Sahil – whom she fell in love with and married at 19 – for discovering and promoting her talent. “If it wasn’t for Sahil, who sent me away to study art in London, and again for The only Indian artist to dabble Master’s at Sothebys, I would have in 40+ mediums, Rouble is a big faded into the woodwork like many part of the Indian Design Council young women,” recalls Rouble. and has participated in more than She was barely 23 when she 150 exhibitions worldwide. She has walked into a hotel owner’s office to her credit over 800 murals and with her team of 10 and was asked JAN-FEB 2019

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how she would handle the work of a whole five-star hotel on her young shoulders? Rouble retorted that it wasn’t her age that made her stand out but her talent and that she would give them something to remember. If she didn’t, then she would return the money.

Her first exhibition in 2002 at the Taj completely sold out. “It took me one year to put 20 paintings

Yet, success for Rouble has always been more about creating a legacy than adding money to her own bank account. “It’s about how many people’s lives I actually touch,” says the artist, adding that all her art money is donated to her foundation today. RNAF has government support and CSR donors as well. She credits Madhav Chavan of the NGO Pratham for initiating

L-R: Receiving a woman achiever award in 2018; with underprivileged kids at one of her balwadis

together and even at that time my paintings started at Rs 1 lakh,” she narrates. Her last show in October 2017 was the most memorable one for her at the Rashtrapati Bhavan Museum. She was the first artist to have been invited to do so. “I still get goosebumps thinking of how magical it was,” she beams. One of her works still sits there at the request of the President of India.

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her into educating children through her balwadis. “Earlier we didn’t need so many funds. Now we’re reaching out to people since I am taking on another 200 schools,” she explains.

Art has taken on another meaning altogether for Rouble: “Every artist evolves. For me now, it’s all about my life and inspirations. I use art as a healing tool for the kid, as a medium for therapy for them.” 

60 | JOURNEY

THE SOUND OF

VICTORY

Miss Deaf Asia 2018 Nishtha Dudeja is not only the first Indian to win the title, she’s also a remarkable example of determination and grit

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hen Nishtha Dudeja was an infant, her mother Poonam suspected something was wrong with her second child’s developmental parameters. Doctors in Guwahati told her the baby’s hear-

ing was fine, but her speech was delayed. So Poonam and her husband, a chief engineer in the Indian railways, began speech therapy for the little girl. Two decades later, the misdiagnosis would turn out fortuitous: Nishtha, who was actually JAN-FEB 2019

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100 percent deaf, can communicate verbally with relative ease. It was no doubt an advantage when she stepped up on stage at the Miss Deaf World beauty pageant held in Prague last year, where she was crowned Miss Deaf Asia 2018, the first Indian to earn the honour.

Of course, Nishtha has many other accomplishments to her credit.

Her parents moved from Guwahati to Delhi for Nishtha’s sake when she was a child, so that she could have speech therapy in Hindi, their mother tongue. Poonam also practised with Nishtha at home.

Things weren’t easy: children at school would pull out Nishtha’s hearing aids and make fun of her.

But her parents and class teacher

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worked together to make Nishtha strong and disciplined enough to brave all challenges, studying her syllabus in advance so that she could keep up with what the teacher taught in class.

“My mother was very tough with me, always pushing me to study and wake early in the morning and go for my tennis classes, even if I slept all the way in the bus,” smiles the animated 23-year-old Nishtha at her Delhi home. Despite her hearing impairment, she communicates with a confidence and radiance that is rare in people her age.

With her parents’ encouragement, Nishtha took up judo at age seven, and tennis when she was 12.

With the single-minded focus and

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hard work that would become her trademark, she soon reached the international platform. She represented India at Deaflympics 2013 held in Sofia, Bulgaria; World Deaf Tennis Championship 2015 held in Nottingham, UK; and Deaflympics 2017 in Samsun, Turkey. Alongside, she completed her B.Com from Delhi University.

A jaw injury forced her to retire

It would help me in presenting myself better,” says Nishtha, who not only won her parents’ approval but also first position in the pageant itself, held in Jaipur in early 2018.

A few months later, she headed to the Czech Republic to represent India globally, and became the first Indian ever to win a title at the Miss and Mr Deaf World platform. The accolades came quick with the rec-

L-R: Posing for a fashion shoot; Nishtha with her family at Rashtrapati Bhawan at a meeting with the President of India Ram Nath Kovind after winning the Miss Deaf Asia 2018 title in Prague

from competitive tennis in 2017. “I was extremely disappointed,” says Nishtha, who immediately began looking out for the next thing to do. That’s when she chanced upon the Miss Deaf India pageant. “My parents were skeptical but I convinced them that it would give me a chance to learn makeup, public speaking, ramp walk and other skills.

ognition: Nishtha got opportunities to meet the President and Vice President of India, and won the National Award for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities under the ‘role model’ category.

These days, Nishtha – whose name is Sanskrit for ‘determination’ or ‘strong faith’ – is doing her Master’s in economics from MumJAN-FEB 2019

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bai, and preparing herself for the job market. She loves driving and reading psychological thrillers in her free time. A brief internship at UNESCO taught her how to handle the many challenges that the disabled have to deal with at the workplace, but also gave her hope in the goodness of people. “My boss was very supportive, and gave instructions to everyone about speak-

about early detection of hearing impairment in babies so that they can be fitted with cochlear implants, ensuring their brain development and speech ability.

Poonam is no longer worried about Nishtha’s future. “The biggest accomplishment for me was when she completed her B.Com – I knew that she could now be financially independent. Everything else is a

L-R: Nishtha with her parents: receiving the National Award for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities from Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on International Day of Persons with Disabilities

ing slowly so that I could read their lips,” she narrates.

Nishtha’s experiences have only reinforced her parents’ guidance to do her best and be compassionate with others, especially the oppressed and less fortunate. “If I help others, then God will help me,” she says with endearing innocence. She is now trying to create awareness JAN-FEB 2019

bonus,” the proud, pragmatic mother says, adding, “Difficulties are tests that God places before us. How we deal with it will dictate our grades.”

Nishtha looks on at her mother with bright eyes, absorbing her words silently. Behind her, her various medals, trophies and certificates adorn a full shelf in the living room.

The girl is living up to her name. 

64 | SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

WHEELS OF FREEDOM Pawani Khandelwal’s social enterprise Aatm Nirbhar equips women in small towns with one basic skill that opens up a multitude of avenues for them – riding two-wheelers

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awani Khandelwal’s mom Rekha always envied women who could ride cycles or drive cars and scooters. The Mathura housewife and mother of two badly wanted to learn how to ride a Scooty, even though she had no personal or professional compulsion to do so. Eventually, after three years of trying, she finally learnt to ride a scooter. One day while talking about her driving adventures, Rekha told her daughter

Pawani that every time she rode her Scooty, it felt like she had got wings.

“That statement right there made a very deep impact on me,” says the 24-year-old Indian School of Business student. “I had been riding a Royal Enfield 500cc for so many years and yet I never realised that such a small thing could change a woman’s life completely – a woman who had always been dependent on someone else for all her life’s needs and decisions. My mom JAN-FEB 2019

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Aatm Nirbhar has a team of more than 50 women

transformed after learning to ride a size of more than 50 self-motivatScooty and this change was some- ed women. So far in one year, they thing I wanted to empower every have impacted the lives of more Indian woman with.” than 2,000 women, helping them The conversabecome self-relition laid the roots THEY HAVE IMPACTED ant for daily chores for Pawani’s own like going to work, THE LIVES OF 2,000 enterprise Aatm dropping kids to Nirbhar, which she WOMEN, HELPING THEM school or shopping. launched in NoThey also proBECOME SELF-RELIANT vember 2017. A vide sustainable FOR DAILY CHORES. social venture with and flexible livelithe vision to emhood opportunities power every Indian to women from woman through mobility, they op- low-income families by employing erate as a two-wheeler driving train- them as trainers, managers, designing school in Jaipur, Agra, Lucknow, ers, developers and so on. “Aatm Mathura and Bharatpur with a team Nirbhar translates to self-reliance.

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L-R: Pawani on her Royal Enfield 500cc bike; Pawani and Rekha (in red) with Aatm Nirbhar’s team of trainers

It is an enterprise of women, by other women. women, for women,” says Pawani, “The thought of giving back to who did her Bachelor’s in Busi- society was first ingrained in me ness Administration from Symbiosis by my mother when I was a child,” University, Pune. narrates Pawani. “Then I got my Though she was first real expoborn and raised in a sure to social work “MILLIONS OF WOMEN during the sum“typical patriarchal society” in Mathumer vacations of MISS OUT ON SOCIAL ra, Pawani considclass seven. With AND ECONOMIC ered herself very the help of some OPPORTUNITIES DUE privileged comfriends, I started pared with other teaching around TO DEPENDENCY girls and women 50 children from ON OTHERS FOR around her who a backward area at were still struggling my farmhouse. We TRANSPORTATION” to secure basic continued to do human rights for this for four years, themselves. Coming from a business teaching kids from other backward family, entrepreneurship was in her areas and orphanages, and gradually blood, and her upbringing encour- started an NGO called Kartavya.” aged the feminist inside her to do The desire to help others only her bit in transforming the lives of grew stronger as Pawani grew older.

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“Millions of women in India miss out on social and economic opportunities on a daily basis due to lack of public transport and dependency on others, mostly male counterparts, for transportation,” says the enterprising young woman. Small towns in India often don’t have basic infrastructure and systems in place for safe public transport. If a woman can take care of her own transportation, she automatically has access to a world of opportunity.

Pawani’s business plan is simple and the investment required is mostly towards manpower and administration. The organisation doesn’t own any scooters. The trainers either use their own scooters or the students’ scooters for training.

Pawani narrates stories after stories of how their trainers’ lives have

changed after coming on board.

“One of our trainers in Jaipur, Nisha has powered through many personal difficulties in life. Last month, she bought an i20 car with her own money. The happiness on her face was evident as she thanked Aatm Nirbhar for her success and independence,” Pawani says with pride.

There are big plans afoot for the future. “Aligning with our vision to empower women through mobility, we plan to expand pan-India: 131 cities in the next two years all around the country. We plan to provide employment opportunities to women as delivery personnel for various e-commerce and food companies. We also plan to delve into the field of four-wheeler driving training for women very soon,” she says. May her tribe increase!  For a mere `1500 a month, Sushila used to assist her mother who worked as a maid in Mathura.

She reached out to Aatm Nirbhar and joined them as a trainer. Soon after joining, she was able to earn enough money to buy her own Scooty. She is seen here teaching one of her students.

JAN-FEB 2019

68 | BOOK REVIEW

ANCIENT INDIAN

FEMINISM Nayanjot Lahiri’s new book Time Pieces: A Whistle-Stop Tour of Ancient India is as much an eye-opener about social mores in ancient India as it is a great read

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renowned historian of ancient India, Professor Nayanjot Lahiri has written on subjects such as the life and times of King Ashoka and the Indus Valley civilisation. Her work is quoted in academic circles, and her views are sought by media and government alike. Which is why her latest work, Time Pieces:A Whistle-Stop Tour of Ancient India (Hachette India, `399), is a bit of a surprise. Unlike the gravitas of her previous works, this one has been written for a lay reader, even young adults, who would be interested in history with a pinch of salt and a bit of teekha tadka.

Lahiri writes about food, hygiene, death, identity and so on, in the India of yore. Most interesting is the idea of love and sex in ancient India as well as antiquity. For those of us who looked up to the West for feminist idols – from iconic writers like Germaine Greer and Virginia Woolf, to the legendary entertainer Madonna, to media giant

Oprah Winfrey – and for those of us who have battled everyday sexism in our homes, workplaces and on the street, the priority that men had placed on women’s needs and feelings in ancient India comes as a pleasurable eye-opener.

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Perhaps it has always been there at the back of our minds. After all, many of us have heard of or read the Kamasutra where love is an idea that transcends narrow barriers. It is here that Lahiri, with her brilliant narrative and skills as a historian, weaves together unconnected pieces and holds a mirror to modern Indian society, which is seen as misogynistic and indifferent to women’s

Nayanjot Lahiri

desires and aspirations. That women are meant for procreational purposes alone has a theoretical religious underpinning.

Things have changed somewhat, thanks to women asserting themselves in modern India, but it has JAN-FEB 2019

not come without collateral damage within the institution of marriage, especially since it was built on patriarchal foundations. That pleasure in love and sex is what women also need to enjoy is still difficult for many men to come to terms with.

Delving into sculptures and other forms of art that depict explicit love games typical of ancient India, Lahiri writes, “Much before amorous duos and inventive menage a trois in stone of Khajurao in middle India and Konark in eastern India, the sculptors of ancient India had a field day moulding clay into heterosexual and same-sex postures.” She goes on,“…a first-century example from Kausambi in Uttar Pradesh renders a couple in sexual intercourse with the legs of a presumably climaxing woman raised as high up in the air as her soul is emotionally.”

The author rues that all these are a far cry from the “censoriousness and prurience that now dominate the Hindu ethos and curtail sexual freedom”. She also argues, armed with anecdotes from ancient texts, that romantic love was once as important within marriage as without.

Some of her pronouncements are sure to kick up a storm, but Lahiri deserves loud applause for writing this unputdownable book that familiarises the younger generation with various facets of ancient India.

History can sometimes hold the keys to our future. 

70 | TRAVEL

THE VALLEY OF MYSTERY

Tourists to Egypt always visit the spectacular pyramids and the Sphinx at Giza. But would you go meditating in the Great Pyramid?

By Dr Urvashi Tandon An aerial view of the Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut temple

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t was a cool November afternoon, and I was meditating inside the king’s chamber of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

A dozen other meditators were present with me, all part of a group organised by Bindu Maira, who specialises in ‘spiritual holidays’.

They had varied experiences. Some felt they were levitating, or saw as-

tounding visions. Others fell into a deep sleep.

I had a surreal experience myself. I saw visuals of my father who passed on 39 years ago. I also saw the face of a doe-eyed beauty with a large head (I remember being told that it was ‘an ugly face’). Imagine my shock when, on visiting a gallery at a papyrus factory later, I found JAN-FEB 2019

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The Luxor temple is dedicated to the sun god Amun Ra. It is believed that Amun Ra travelled to this temple once a year to go through the ceremony of re-coronation. The similarity with the Indian religious system of taking a deity out in procession is striking.

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Clockwise from top left: Kom Ombo temple, where priests once performed surgeries and administered medicines; the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid at Giza; with my husband; the tomb of Queen Hatshepsut

myself standing before the same image! I was told it was Akhenaten, an Egyptian pharaoh who promoted gender equality. He was depicted as part-man part-woman and his thick lips made him appear ‘ugly’ to the Egyptians. That word again... I was shaken up.

My entire journey to Egypt had a mystical element to it. We were a diverse group of people that included entrepreneurs, doctors, social workers and healers but we had a common interest in the mystical land of this ancient civilization, very similar in many ways to our own country and culture.

Starting from Cairo, we flew together to Luxor, the capital of an-

cient Egypt. We first visited the Karnak temple built in honour of the sun god Amun Ra by King Ramses II. We also visited the famous Luxor temple.

A river cruise on the Nile is an unforgettable part of visiting Egypt. Blue waters and lush green banks were delightful visuals while Egyptian music pleased the auditory senses on deck. We also had meditation sessions on board interspersed with bouts of sightseeing.

The Nile divides the city into the East and West banks. The most important tourist spots on the West bank are the Valley of the Kings and Queens. The two Valleys served as a royal burial ground for pharaohs, JAN-FEB 2019

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queens and nobles from Egypt’s New Kingdom (1539 – 1075 BCE).

Several tombs have been discovered in the past two centuries.

We visited the tombs of King Ramses IV, King Ramses V, Meramptah and Tutankhamun. Although not much remains in the tombs except for hieroglyphics, the tomb of Tutankhamun still has his original mummy in place. A small tomb, it is difficult to imagine how the enormous treasures that were discovered in his tomb, and are now on display at the museum in Cairo, could fit into the confined area.

Set against the backdrop of the Valley of the Kings is the stunning mortuary temple of a female ruler.

Queen Hatshepsut was one strong woman – she ruled for 15 years after wresting the throne from her kid brother. Other notable stops were the temples of Edfu and Kom Ombo.The latter once had a hospital on the premises.

The cruise takes you to Aswan, the southernmost city of Egypt, where we visited the Phillae temple and took a ride through the Sahara desert to Abu Simbal. Back in Cairo, we visited Khan el-Khalili, a major souk in the historic centre. We then headed to our hotel, which overlooked the great pyramids. Waking up to the view of the pyramids was an unforgettable experience. Just like the rest of the trip. 

L-R: Akhenaten, whom I first saw in a vision while meditating inside the Great Pyramid, and then at a museum; a hot-air balloon ride allowed us an outstanding aerial view JAN-FEB 2019

74 | SCREENSHOT

Young at Heart SHEELA NIRULA, 61, DELHI

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s a convent-school student in Jabalpur, I loved science, and was encouraged to follow my calling by my father who worked in the Ministry of Defence, and by my homemaker mother. So I took up nutrition and dietetics for graduation.

There weren’t too many job openings in the 1980s for nutritionists, but I did have a very fulfilling career with the TATA group. I had an arranged marriage at the age of 28.

A lot of things happened when I was 30 and pregnant with my older daughter. It was a difficult pregnancy. At the same time, I had a spiritual awakening. I began living in a state of gratitude, and took solace in the Bhagavad Gita.

At 33, I had another beautiful daughter, and became a hands-on mom. I used my knowledge of nutrition to make healthy food for my family, experimenting with new recipes.

Many things inspire me. Learning yoga from my firstborn inspires me. Seeing my younger daughter studying and working in the UK inspires me. My husband’s never-give-up attitude inspires me. My line-dance classes inspire me.

I believe that one should never stop learning: that will keep you young at heart and in mind! I believe, “Your happiness will not come to you. It can only come from you.”  JAN-FEB 2019

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76 | PERSONAL GROWTH