Yoga Instructor to Dinner Stall - Entrepreneurship & Society.
This story starts with Sima Paul, a woman living in the slums of Keyatala, Kolkata. She cooks the most amazing chicken and sells it just outside her house. When asked she said she was a personal yoga instructor before the pandemic and in the times of pandemic, every household she was teaching yoga in, stopped her from entering. She then started her own business of putting up a dinner stall. She mentions in the times of mass lockdown she has supplied food for many essential workers too. She had seen a business opportunity on her reach and took it.
I also asked if she want to go back to teaching yoga? To which she answered, this business is going too good and she can't invest any time going back teaching Yoga. She liked cooking and she is good at it.
Inside the societal class segregation in India If we look into the lower class people, from slums, they have more entrepreneurial spirit than middle class. Walking through slums you will see small stalls and shops like sima's everywhere. Sima didn't wait for bank loans to come-in for her big cafe, she has started from what she had, whatever help she could get, she made sure she did.
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Growing up in a middle class family, I was always told to not dream big. To keep my reach within. Be decent in education, do a bachelors degree and get a govt. job. And this scenario is becoming more and more common.
You see, Indian middle class don't appreciate Entrepreneurship. When I was selected for Walmart all my friends wished me a thousand wishes. Same me when I share stories of starting Xynes people are not interested that much. I feel isolated. It almost feels foreign to most people of an Indian boy starting a software company. The success of a start-up is always seen with scepticism; "They must be doing something illegal." A good plan never receive the attention is requires.
For India to create next Silicon Valley, we need to first celebrate every Sima from the sidewalks and glorify their stories.
Co-Founder Torii, Change Mantras, Sanjog, Nyaypath | System's Coach
10 个月Entrepreneurship involves risk taking. For Bengalis, and i say Bengalis because I don't think the same applies to Marwaris, Punjabis, Sindhis, Gujaratis, the priority has always been stability and security over wealth creation and big success. Also, there is much more respect for the office going middle class bhadrolok (gentleman) than the adventurer who takes risk to chase a kill.So much of this is a cultural influence I think. But things have also changed a lot. The same middle class Bengali, who at one time avoided migration and preferred to settle for lesser career advancement instead of distancing from family, community and friends, is one of the highest communities in migration. We prefer impermanence of jobs in multinationals to sarkaari chakri ,(government jobs) where you have guaranteed salaries until retirement, and then pensions). I am partly from that generation where we were far more conservative in our dreams and ambitions. But also pushed the boundaries and broke out from the insularity of my parents generation. I like the transitions. It has its payoffs and also claims a price.