By Shagun Taank
New Delhi [India], Mar 7 : The recent wave of digitisation coupled with entrepreneurship is lending a helping hand to young women in breaking the glass ceilings and emerging out as warriors.
The spirit of women entrepreneurship is analogous to this year's theme for International Women's Day- 'I am Generation Equality: Realising Women's Rights' which preachesequal rights for women in all fronts.
While some women are claiming their equal rights by bringing their businesses to the forefront, others are using their ventures to uplift other women.
Unlike many others, Srijana Bagaria, the face behind the inception of India's first toilet seat sanitizer - Pee Safe - used the opportunity to make the world and more specifically public toilets safer for women. She then launched a series of other intimate hygiene products.
According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, urinary diseases like Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) happen more often in women than in men and have a ratio of 8:1.
A UTI is exactly the force that led to the inception of Pee Safe as its founder herself suffered the condition during a road trip and then later launched the product.
Speaking to ANI, Srijana Bagaria said, "There is a large section of Indian women who don't yet have access to toilets. The public washrooms are often neglected and not cleaned or sanitized regularly. This problem of lack of hygienic facilities impacts those women most who are on the go."
"All this drove us to launch our flagship product, the Pee Safe toilet seat sanitizer spray. While we started out to address women's hygiene, over time, we have also set out to achieve the larger goal of better personal hygiene for all through products that are environmentally sustainable," Bagaria added.
Soon after the inception of the product, Bagaria launched several social media campaigns to further raise awareness about the product as well as intimate hygiene to make the product reach rural pockets.
"Today, internet access has grown and there is good network coverage even in Tier 2 and 3 cities. We have been increasing awareness in such non-metro areas. We have been regularly highlighting issues that were previously considered taboo," said Bagaria.
Another women entrepreneur is inspired by the motto to help others is the founder of women's merchandising label - Chowkhat's founder, Anuja Gupta.
With the motto of "affordable handmade clothing for all", Gupta started her online business of authentic handmade Chikankari clothing on Instagram and ditched her 9-5 marketing job to emerge victorious as a young woman entrepreneur.
"Chowkhat is the door to affordable Indian handmade clothing to women. Every person should have handmade clothing especially in India where we have a plethora of handmade clothing options available," Gupta told ANI.
"It is inaccessible for many as it is considered as a luxury project due to its high pricing. Handmade products like that of chikankari also help in the preservation of the environment as they are biodegradable," the founder of 'Chowkhat' added.
Apart from bringing authentic handmade clothing to fingertips of women, her venture also helps in the employment of scores of women who work for a period of over 50-60 days to make one single piece of chikankari clothing
While 'Chowkhat' speaks volumes about breaking the glass ceiling in the clothing sector, some women entrepreneurs speak for themselves.
After freelancing as a content writer from as early as her graduation years, Mudita Jha emerged out as a young woman-preneur in one of the most booming sectors of business - digital marketing.
At the age of 22, where many just flow with the wind, Jha chose a rather challenging career for herself.
Speaking to ANI about women entrepreneurship and the changing times, Jha said, "There is definitely a change in the society with respect to women. We are enjoying the kind of privileges our mothers used to dream about."
Further speaking about the challenges that women often come across in the technical sector of entrepreneurship, she said, "I remember one time, this client of mine suggested me to experiment with my work & take up new projects from different niche."
"He further said that if my experiments don't work out I always have the option to marry off a rich guy and never worry about nothing," she added.
Further highlighting the theme of equality, Jha said, "both the genders have their own set of prejudices to overcome and work around with. The only thing that matters, in the long run, is your persistence. The only assured formula is trial & error. And that's what I do every day."
Many more women, like Srijana Bagaria, Anuja Gupta and Mudita Jha are doing their bit in striving towards equality and proving that 'I am Generation Equality.'