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Storytelling On

Table of Contents A story on women up-lifting women

04 - 15

Brand logo re-creation

15 - 21

A story on women uplifting women

understand this because she is a working woman who earns a handsome amount of money with a reputed position in her field. What happened next won’t shock you because it’s the story of many Indian women in our country and the reason it won’t shock you is because it has been normalized. Instead of making a business plan she made vows. I told her that the world didn’t end and Regarding empowerment in India, a woman’s settle- that she still had a chance to achieve what she dreamt of. ment in marriage is more important than her career. In this context, I remember an ambitious friend whose From a woman to all the women out there who believe dreams were to become something big in her life de- that they have broken dreams, it’s never too late. I had feating patriarchy. Her dreams were to conquer the field heard a story of an inspiring woman called Madhu she was in and show the world an insight into what a Vaishnav who had so many hurdles in her life but later woman-led world would look like. Now, this is a goal achieved a milestone in her life by dodging all of those that would take donkey’s years’ to achieve. She was un- hurdles. To begin with, she got married at just 23. She had doubtedly the most hardworking person I knew and I a marriage contract that forbade her from working outalso looked up to her. So for her, a bolt from the blue side of the home. She was well educated with a masters was when her parents started talking to her about mar- degree in Indian History but was not fortunate enough riage and kids which they termed settlement. For her, to find jobs. Her life went on and she had two sons later. the meaning of settlement was achieving her career She knew this was not where she wanted to stop. She goals. The sad part is, that she expected her mother to had the hunger to achieve something in her life that is t’s 2023, a year full of marvelous achievements like generative AI models, virtual and augmented reality, and more. Technologically we’ve rocketed but do we stand at the same place ethically, especially when it comes to the women of our country? Forget men; are we women uplifting each other or tearing each other down?

meaningful to the society. She was a young mother with a desire to do more. Her sons began to grow and she became more and more involved in their education. She began taking classes for English. She had the desire to enroll her son into a prestigious English medium academy. Miraculously, she was offered a position as a teacher when she met with the school director.

“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” - Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist That’s what happened with her too. She convinced her family to take up the job. She dedicated her time to teaching in the day and learning English in the evenings since she was an intermediate English speaker. Although she was a successful teacher, after four years of working in the school she started to work in the non-profit sector as a social worker. She worked in the slum areas outside Jodhpur. She worked there for five years as a program coordinator with an American NGO. There, she assisted in supporting female sex workers with awareness of HIV/AIDS, micro fi- Fig.2. nance, skills training, and sex worker education.

Fig.1. Madhu (center left) pictured with ladies at the Saheli Center

“No girl should be deprived of their education just because of small barriers.” - Madhu Vaishnav

When she attended a wedding at her husband’s village Bhikamkor, she saw that the women of that place were highly disadvantaged. She was inspired by how women supported their families by very little means. She made it her goal to understand more on sustainable development and enrolled in a certificate course at the University of California Berkeley. The first humanitarian workshops were established in the village just for $100. She saw that every woman in the village had a sewing machine as their dowry gift. She saw this as an opportunity and began a skills training course as a part of fashion social enterprise. This came to be known as the saheli woman project. The word Saheli means ‘female friend’ in Hindi. This is a classic example of woman uplifting woman. The project grew so much that so many brands began collaborating with the women producers.

Their Journey

heir journey started with one woman wanting to inspire and motivate several other disadvantaged women to be able independently support their families. Initially, it was very difficult for them to convince the women of their village to leave their homes to attend the training sessions due to the conservative views of their husbands and in-laws. Though many women attended the early sessions, a large amount of women dropped because of the cumbersome nature of sewing and garment construction techniques. In addition to this, most of the women were illiterate and couldn’t decipher the numbers for measurements. Fig.3.

Fig.4.

Fig.5.

Training They Began training only 5 women and worked towards changing the mindsets of the people regarding women empowerment. Their saheli project focused breaking cultural norms while maintaining family values.

Setting an example The women started earning 3000 rupees per month and set an example for the rest of the women who later started joining them.

Collaboration with brands They started partnering with more brands and 3 years later the women are earning 12000 rupees per month.

MISSION Their mission is to create employment for women in ethical fashion manufacturing to derive a sustainable livelihood that benefits themselves, their families and their communities.

Fig.6.

Employee benefits. The Saheli center is the commerce center of the Bhikamkor village. Women can only earn by working here. By working in their studio, ladies become independent enough to send their children to schools. It is amazing how a woman has given another woman a new beginning in their lives, made them believe that marriage is not the end goal of their lives and freed them from cultural norms and narrow mindedness. She saw to it that the women of her company enjoy their work and live a stress-free life by providing them the following benefits:

01 Employment is freely chosen 02 freedom of association is respected 03 working conditions are safe and hygienic 04 child labor is not allowed 05 a living wage is paid 06 working hours are not excessive / women design her own working schedule

07 discrimination is prohibited 08 regular employment is provided Fig.7.

09 no harsh or inhumane treatment

EXECUTIVE TEAM

STITCHING TEAM

THEIR WORK

FOR BRANDS

"I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples." — Mother Teresa.

Madhu Vaishnav has created large ripples which is so impactful that it is gradually changing the dynamics of the families of Bhikamkor village. A village that only saw women inside the house now sees a working and independent women who sends her children to school. Mrs. Madhu has set an example for both educated and uneducated women. It’s a lesson for educated women who tear other women down. Through this journey we explore how beautifully success can be achieved only if we stay united, up-lift each other’s spirits and motivate each other to grow.

LOGO RE-CREATION

EXPLORATION

FINAL

While the explorations and rough ing of the logos, three key-words were kept in 1. Female friend - saheli 2. Navy blue color 3. Female symbol

draftmind.

The logo is re-constructed from the original logo. Saheli is a brand full of wonder women who sell their creations in the countries like Australia, Germany, Netherlands and many more. The originality of the logo has been retained but the S of the Saheli logo was an inspiration derived from the female symbol with a circle and a cross sign below it. It represents female empowerment through female friend or saheli. The navy blue colour is derived from the Saheli production center that has been shown on their official website. The main reason for me to choose just navy blue and not any other colour from the brand is because of the meaning it holds. Navy blue symbolizes trust and stability. The uneducated women of Bhikamkor decided to trust Mrs. Madhu in her process. Together they formed a stable organization which now provides employment to 35 women making them independent. The logo was also designed in such a way that it represents a bit of Shiro-rekha of Hindi writing in the letter S at first glance to give it a cultural appearance.