The Women’s Issue 2022

Home Truths:  Anushka Ahuja, co-founder of the home décor company GharGhar that creates sustainable artisanal products: “The home décor industry is vast, and the competition is huge. We want to stay on top of the game with our unique design, different aesthetics, quality and consistency.”

Gin And Don’t Bear It: Lavanya Jayashankar, co-founder of Matinee, India’s first women-founded gin: “Founding it helped me free myself of traditional definitions of success. People look at us through their biases, telling us what we can and can't do. The very least we can do for ourselves is to not listen.”

My Continent Of Words: Manisha Chaudhry, a publishing professional, an editor and translator: “As I learn to listen better, I am able to make connections across languages and words glow with new meaning. It is this hidden power of words that makes dialogue possible across diverse spaces.”

The Art Of Interiors: Meenu Agarwal, the founder and principal designer of MADS Creations, an interior design company: “I realised early on that the only way to win over the clients was through keeping their lifestyle in mind, customising the interiors to the last detail and following strict timelines.”

Tender Are The Feet: Neha Kumthekar, co-founder and Brand Custodian of OCEEDEE, a luxury footwear brand: “When we started OCEEDEE, there were challenges since neither I nor my co-founder Anshul Sood came from any formal background in footwear manufacturing or designing. The only driving force since the beginning of the journey was a strong passion and conviction to create something different.”

Carving A Niche: Rashi Bothra and Ruchi Gehani, founders of Azure Interiors: “Since we founded Azure Interiors in 2013, we have completed 150 projects. People often wonder about the synergy between the two of us, but we are lucky to share a similar design sensibility and a seamless understanding of each other’s working style.”

The Aesthetics Of Living: Rohina Anand Khera, CEO of AA Living, a home decor company: “When we started the luxury home decor brand AA Living, we had just 50 products on our website. As our project enters another phase, we are geared up to go international, beginning with the Middle East.” 

Finding the ‘Field’: Shrayana Bhattacharya, author of Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh: India's Lonely Young Women and the Search for Intimacy and Independence: “I spent more than a decade talking to a diverse cohort of women about a movie-star: Shah Rukh Khan. I had made friends with them through seemingly silly conversations about fandom and films. It freed me from having to look at the lives of women through the prism of deprivation and poverty alone. It helped me see the field better.”

A Tapestry of Heritage On The Platter: Sonal Jetha, founder of Kaunteya, a luxury tableware brand: “Being a design entrepreneur is quite satisfying and fulfilling. The designs one creates gives one a sense of satisfaction for having created an object of timeless beauty. However, the journey of entrepreneurship, especially in the design industry, is tough and very time-consuming. One has to experiment more to learn more and do more to achieve more. Women these days are playing a vital role in this industry, which is a manifestation of their empowerment.” 

Pause, Reset, Fresh Start: Sudha Menon, author, columnist and writing coach: “I was divorced, newly unemployed, and desperate at 43. In the last 11 years, I have made a new life for myself: written six books, founded a writing workshop, and forayed into modelling and acting.”

The Perfect Pitch: Srimoyi Bhattacharya, author and founder of Peepul PR: “Public relations require you is to string all your personal and professional experiences together, and adapt them to every situation. It teaches you to gravitate towards people who are dissimilar to you and create a space in which you both can have a constructive conversation.”