The Influenchers: Powerful women shaping India

Much before all it took to be an influencer was a cellphone, a selfie-stick and an Insta account to post saffron-painted nails or a whoopee dance on a moving train, there was—and is—the real deal. Some are household names. Some make headlines and step back into the shadows. Some prefer to remain there and let their work speak for them.

This International Women’s Day Issue pays homage to the women pathfinders who influence the times. There is neither a particular order of importance nor a category in this list because they are all equals, considering their chosen fields.

Their achievements reflect the aspirations and tools of New India: technology, art and crafts, disability, health and wellness, the environment, scientific discoveries, and growing inherited companies exponentially to become business baronesses. Some of them or their companies have been around for years, if not decades, but the impact of their work remains perennial.

Some of these achievers are to the manor born, like the legacy entrepreneur Nisaba Godrej who grew her company 17 times into a billion-dollar corporate mammoth, but rarely gives interviews or appears at business conclaves. Or Dalit politician Ramya Haridas, who crowdfunded her own campaign and sang her way to victory. There are service innovators like Mehvish Mushtaq, the first Kashmiri woman to develop an Android application called ‘Dial Kashmir’ that provides addresses, contact numbers, and email ids of different essential services and state government departments.

AI-preneur Niti Agarwal created seamlessly communicating chatbots to grow existing businesses. Many she-influencers are from opposite sides of the educational and social spectrum; rural entrepreneur Pariben Rabari invented the new embroidery art form ‘Hari Jari’, and YouCode Intelligence promoter Suriya Prabha K conducts computer thinking camps in government schools in rural Tamil Nadu. These wonder women have raised collectives and export initiatives.

They have brought challenge into the equation: Ladakh’s Thinlas Chorol’s Ladakhi Women’s Travel Company, wholly owned and operated by women, encourages ladies to climb mountains, literally and metaphorically. What unites this band of sisters is the diversity of India’s possibilities and vast resources, which if properly used can empower its citizens, especially women, through direct involvement: for example, the seed fund of `10 lakh for Sumita Ghose’s chic, handcrafted products venture came from investments from 1,000 artists.

Many of these indomitable females have broken the middleman chain: Sobita Tamuli of Assam makes and exports saffron to Japan directly. Online awareness has brought about eco-literacy: low-key Delhi businesswoman Tamanna Sharma operates a successful waste management service provider, especially in the plastic-plagued hills. Coimbatore-based Hemalatha Annamalai’s Ampere Electric has found a profitable niche in manufacturing electric vehicles for waste management.

With struggles, strategies and successes, these ladies of the light inspire India’s women to dare to dream or build on dreams. What they all have in common is imagination and resolve. More power to them.