Jatropha, ixora and other pressed flowers adorn tabletops, lampshades and stationary products. Gulmohar and eucalyptus seedpods are sanded and shaped into incense-holders. Assorted seeds are polished and beaded into jewellery. These are some of the offerings at Shradhanjali, an eco-lifestyle label co-founded by Abha Tewari in 1980.
“The goal has been to do business, but differently; to create original beautiful products, in a harmonious, growth-fostering environment for the team, while taking utmost care of the environment, of our raw material suppliers and our customers and finally, contributing to [our hometown] Auroville's growth,” says Abha.
Abha Tewari founded Shradhanjali, an eco-conscious, social enterprise in 1980. Image: Courtesy Shradhanjali
Most of the flowers used are grown organically in its garden, using drip irrigation and recycled water. Other botanicals are handpicked from Auroville’s forests. “Part of the profit from Beejika, the seed range, goes back to the forest group for replanting,” she adds.
The 40-year-strong social enterprise has strengthened its commitment to female empowerment over the last decade. Its 21-member team is comprised mainly of women, several of whom are the sole breadwinners of their family.
With the advent of Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown, Shradhanjali's orders have dwindled. “We have only had small orders from a client in Europe but they too, are strongly impacted by the virus and struggling to find new ways of functioning,” adds Abha who had to shut operations at the end of July.
While hoping to reopen, she continues to look out for her team. Shradhanjali released a series of Covid Testimonies, via social media, that features its workers and their individual stories.
The idea is to garner financial support, perhaps through a scholarship fund for their children’s education, says Abha. Meanwhile, the company has cleared all final settlements to help members through this challenging time.
When
you are the Product Evangelist at a renowned tech company like Zoho,
you are expected to be a techie with educational background in a premium
institute and work experience at multiple tech titans. But Kuppulakshmi
Krishnamoorthy, who heads the tech platform Zoho’s Startups program, is
an Industrial Microbiologist by education. She started her career as a
soft skills and communication trainer and a voice and accent specialist.
The
Tamil Nadu native, who has been a part of 24-year-old Zoho's growth
story for about a decade now, spoke to MAKERS India recently,
recollecting her journey and her vision.
At
Zoho, bridging the gap between businesses and technology has been her
core area of work. She focuses on strategic alliances between Zoho and
State governments, incubators, accelerators, and other stakeholders. She
also mentors startups on pitching, design thinking, and on using EQ
while hiring new talents and while setting up the vision and culture of
startups.
In addition, Kuppulakshmi also works with Project
Puthri, a non-profit organsiation that focuses on education and training
life skills for girl children who don't have great exposure otherwise.
Speaking to MAKERS India, Kuppulakshmi reveals that it is her own humble
background and un-gendered bringing up that makes her what she is
today.
Scroll back up to restore default view.
Growing up self-reliant
Kuppulakshmi,
now in her thirties, was born and brought up in a small town in Tamil
Nadu, to parents who had not finished school but wanted their children
to study well. Due to the family’s financial constraints, Kuppulakshmi
often had to depend on hand-me-down clothes and borrowed books. But she
shares that she got valuable life lessons from her parents, and learnt
self-reliance at an early age.
“My mother had studied only till
eighth grade. But she was very clear that she wanted to be her own
person - “Being a mother is just one of the many things who I chose to
be” – she used to say. My father and my younger sister also supported
her. I used to teach her biology when I was in 12th grade! She went on
to take MA and M.Ed later in her life, while my father took care of the
household chores,” she recollects, adding that seeing conventional
gender roles have influenced her too.
“Although my parents were
dependent on my monthly salary when I started working, they never
thought of me as the ‘son’ they never had,” she says with a smile.
But Kuppulakshmi also confesses that she had a
hard time in school. Although she was a topper in English and Biology
and active in extracurricular activities like Chess, Kuppu failed Maths
in 12th grade. “I now realise that it was due to a lack of better
direction that I chose Science group after 10th. My parents could not
guide me; I had to depend on friends – many of whom I lost after
flunking the exam. But I learnt a big lesson in self-reliance then,” she
says.
Looking back, Kuppulakshmi is proud of her achievements –
but also regrets that her parents are not around to see her
accomplishments. “I lost both my father and my mother in a tragic
accident a few years ago. It took all my strength to not let that grief
destroy me. But even today I wish if they were alive – so that I could
at least give them an easier life, or a vacation which they could never
afford.”
Being Empathetic
Having experienced
such a life has definitely shaped Kuppulakshmi into the strong, helpful,
empathetic person she is today – a trait that makes her stand out as a
startup mentor and evangelist. “Successful leaders have always focused
on the human element. In order to sustain (your company) for a period of
time, you may tend to be too focused on money matters. It’s essential;
but so is the human element,” she says.
Her advice to startups is
to not just focus on the financials but on the emotional quotient too –
like by bringing gender equality, guaranteeing safety, and ensuring
mental wellness among employees. She encourages supporting mothers at
workplaces too. (At Zoho, Kuppulakshmi – as a new mother - was allowed
to bring her baby and a nanny to office.)
A champion for women empowerment and bringing
more women into the workforce, she urges younger generation to make
conscious choices in career. “I wish more youngsters would do the
research (about a potential employer) and not pick a job opportunity
just because it's out there. Ask questions during interviews. Make a
selective choice of where they want your skills,” she says, adding that
it is the responsibility of every professional to put pressure on
companies to follow diversity and inclusion. “We need to make men also
allies in our efforts for women empowerment,” she adds.
In a world
where women have to fight more battles daily than ever before,
Kuppulakshmi is the role model we did not know we needed.
Jyothi
Reddy has a story which seems to be the stuff of fiction conjured up by
a shrewd novelist - inflicting numerous sufferings on his protagonist
to eventually make her a winner. Except here, Jyothi altered her
destiny, herself.
Born to abject poverty in a rural village in
Andhra Pradesh, Jyothi rebuilt her life from an orphanage, to
establishing a software company in the US. Jyothi’s story is one of
perseverance, determination, and building success brick by brick.
Growing up orphan
Jyothi
was the second among five siblings in a poor family. Their father sent
them both to an orphanage, lying that they were motherless, as he could
not afford to look after them. While her sister returned to their
father, Jyothi held out. Despite missing and needing her mother, she
lived in the orphanage from class 5 to class 10.
The child bride who grew up
Jyothi’s
parents married her off at the age of 16. By the time she was 18, she
was a mother of two girls. Her husband was a farmer who had not passed
highschool . From 1985 to 1990, Jyothi had to work as a daily wage
labourer, earning Rs.5 per day at farms and mines.
Jyothi Reddy with former President Pranab Mukherjee (File photo)
“There
was never enough money to buy medicine or toys for my children,” she
recollects. When the time came to admit her children in school, she
opted for Telugu medium because the fees was Rs. 25 a month, while at an
English medium school, it was Rs. 50 per month.
The joint family
lived in a one-room house, with no toilet, where Jyothi was in charge of
household chores. . Besides poverty, Jyothi also faced clashes with her
husband and in-laws, and was often physically abused. “I had tried to
commit suicide with my children twice; but their crying made me stop,”
says Jyothi.
Fighting hard for survival
Since Jyothi was one among the few labourers who could read and write, she started teaching night school as part of the Nehru Yuva Kendra’s mission, for Rs.120 a month. She would also visit every village in Warangal to train the youth to stitch clothes.
Simultaneously,
she started stitching petticoats for an extra income and working as a
librarian, travelling 70 km by train every day. But Jyothi was thirsty
for more – in 1992, she sold her mangalsutra, the only gold she owned, to sell sarees and petticoats on a train. She was just 22 at the time.
“I
needed Rs.2000-3000 for capital to buy sarees. M y sister’s landlord
used to sell sarees at her house- s o I asked her for sarees to sell.
After many refusals, she gave me 10 sarees, and I sold them for a profit
of Rs.20. Even though the bag was too heavy to carry in a train, I sold
4-5 sarees every day and made Rs. 2000 per month,” Jyothi recounts.
Glimmer of hope
Once she managed to get a BA degree from Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University in 1994, Jyothi’s salary rose to Rs.398.
Jyothi
recounts that the first time she bought herself anything was when she
was working as a teacher. “I had only two saris. I needed a third one. I
bought a sari for myself for Rs 135; I still have it.”
A chance
meeting with a relative from the US gave Jyothi an escape from the
vortex of poverty. Her cousin told her, “An aggressive woman like you
can easily manage in America.”
#JyothiReddy 1)
A girl who walked barefoot to school, now drives a Mercedes Benz, owns
over 500 sarees and has more than 30 pairs of sunglasses 2) She is the CEO of Key Software Solutions Inc. in Phoenix, US 3) She was forced to work in the paddy fields to earn Rs 5 #MahaAchieverpic.twitter.com/ufK9217yky
Jyothi
immediately enrolled in computer software classes. “While teaching, I
used to run a chit fund for the other teachers. My salary in 1994/ 5 was
Rs. 5000 and I used to earn Rs. 25,000 from the chit fund. I tried to
save as much as I could so that I could go to the US.”
Jyothi took
the help of relatives and friends to apply for an American visa. She
went to US and left her two daughters in a missionary hostel.
However,
when Jyothi reached the US, she had very little support. She was not
fluent in English and had to work odd jobs, while staying as a paying
guest with a Gujarati family in New Jersey for $350 per month.
Jyothi
worked as a sales girl, a room service person in a motel, a babysitter ,
a gas station attendant, and a loading-unloading worker at a warehouse,
over the first few years.
With a relative’s help, Jyothi was able
to join CS America as a recruiter in 1998. After a short stint there,
with her savings of $40,000, she started a consulting company for visa
processing in 2001. Key Software Solutions grew to be a huge success, and made over $23 million last year in revenue.
Once
she found stability, she took her husband and daughters to the US –
both of whom are software engineers now. Jyothi owns six houses in the
US and two in India.
She always remembers to help the needy- –
Jyothi supports orphanages and old age homes in India, and works with
governmental and non-governmental organisations to further the cause of
orphan children. Jyothi also backs vocational training for
underprivileged youngsters.
Jyothi’s life may not have been a bed
of roses, but due to her resilient spirit, she turned her life around
into something straight out of a fairy tale.
