Small-town wonder women!
lack of education, medical challenges or financial hits, nothing could stop this lady from becoming an entrepreneur and bringing the high-life shopping experience to a small city.
Born and brought up in a small town called Gaya, that most have unheard off, she was the youngest of her 3 brothers. With her love for singing and sewing, she aspired to make it big, one day. Life doesn't come easy, does it? Her education took a toll when she got married and moved to Patna at a very young age and already had two children before she turned 20. Although she was now burdened with children to raise and family to care for, her heart was still looking out to to the stars.
In the next two decades, life had been even more difficult for her. A young energetic family member that she loved, had passed away in an accident. This misery continued when she experienced her family’s fortune being looted by another one of her own. But, her smile never faded, and her aspiration to become an entrepreneur was still hidden somewhere within her heart.
She took the first step by starting a small boutique in the comfort of her house, where she designed sarees and lehengas. In the year 1999, when Women entrepreneurship was a lesser known word, she aimed to become one. Ignoring all the negative remarks from the so called “jaan-ne waale” (family & other relatives), she travelled across India to experience how the boutiques in bigger cities work, and strategies her next step. However, life gave her a lemon, again. She was hit with critical tuberculosis, and the local doctors had given up on her. However, thanks to her spirit and of course, to her family, who fought with her and struggled to make her stand again in two years.
This time she got up more resilient and stronger, ready for her next step in business. Supported by her loving family, she invested everything that the family had and quadrupled the size of her boutique. Traveling to big cities, exploring and understanding the high-class lifestyle and shopping culture, she chose to bring this experience to Patna. In 2002, when this city was suffering from political turbulence and gunda-raj, her boutique had created a shopping experience that people of this city would never have imagined at that time. Slowly with experience, the boutique flourished and so did her happiness.
Today, my mother runs one of the most loved boutiques in this city, and stocks almost everything from kids-wear, crockeries, ethnic wear, home decor to women’s accessories. She prides in hand selecting every of her more than thirty thousand items in her boutique. Although my mother is soon going to turn 50, her love for this business is only growing stronger. At this age, this entrepreneur is not only a grandmother of two but a lady who defeated all the odds in her life in pursuit of her happiness.
