The REMARKABLE Real Entrepreneurs of India- The gritty Women of India

As we at T- Hub embarked on launching largest incubation cohort at #Lab32 at T- Hub, I could not think of of a larger collective team effort from the T- Hub team in working hard together over the last few months. A big thanks to the T- Hub team, especially the Incubation team that worked hard to make this happen.

In the morrow of this launch, I couldn’t help but notice the many common factors that will differentiate the successful ones from the have- runs. Its not the smarts nor the hustle that will separate these winners from the whiners. At the end of it all, there lies a common denominator that will sieve out the rock stars- Hunger. Its hunger that keeps every entrepreneur going till she crosses the finish line.

In the midst of yet another arid summer May, the mercury seemed to have relented for a day at 33 degrees celcius, and I decided to ‘brave’ out from my sheltered existence to meet a real entrepreneur. I spent the next 30 minutes with her, interviewing her and getting to know her entrepreneurial story. Meet Sharada.

A lady who’s been serving Jowar Rotis on Road no. 10, right down the lane where I live for the last three months. Its these kindred souls who represent the 22% of our population that lives below the poverty line. Her story is common, yet remarkable. One that reeks of “HUNGER’.

 She who moved from Marripalligudem Village, Warrangal district. She moved to Hyderabd, as her village ran bone dry- devoid of water. She had shelled out her life’s savings or a large portion of it, about a lakh and a half rupees, to the cause of a cooperative borewell, that ran dry in months. She has a son, who’s in his 10th grade in a local school. And a daughter, in eight grade. She migrated to Hyderabad, after two days of unrelenting realization that water is something as preciously unyielding to her as you reading this now, bitching when your airconditioning goes out for an hour, or when your truly moans about sporadic internet connectivity. She and her 13 year old daughter migrated to Hyderabad. She pent a couple of hundred rupees and bought a plastic tub, a few stainless steel vessels, and one ‘chulha’. She and her daughter setup the makeshift stall, shoved a few planks of wood she found on the road, kickstarted a flame, lit stoked the only theing she’s good at- kneaded dough and started selling the same thing she’s been feeding her kids when she did have water- Jowar Rotis.

She’s been at it for the last three months. She and her daughter don’t have enough money to buy footwear. But they do have the grit to stick it out. She makes about 30 rotis a day, bottle necked only by lack of money to buy more raw material. She retails them for 10 rupees a day. She makes a grand total of 300 rupees every day. She’s up from 7 pm through a good part of the night till about 10 doing this. On a good day, she makes 500. I didn’t have the gall to ask her, if that was the weekend. She, in fact offered to let me know, that it was on Saturdays, when the jolly townsfolk, tipsy on the weekends are the peak of her transient business cycle.

While our Flipkarts make us proud, take a moment to salute the true Indian entrepreneur.

She represents the 0.05% that contribute to India’s migratory population.

Take a moment to swallow your ego and embrace India’s true entrepreneur.

Take a moment to salute the Women of this country- for their toil and their unparalleled grit- no better representation that Sharda

The India woman entrepreneur- She, whose story is common, yet remarkable.

One that reeks of “HUNGER’. The literal one, not the figurative type.