Be present!

Yes friends, being fully present in the present time can be the real mantra of success. There are so many spheres in life where we as an individual have to continuously keep contributing to lead life successfully. Muti-tasking was considered an easy solution some time back, but it is not worth as it takes away the real impact of the activity carried by you. The objective in life should not just keep ticking off your to-do list. You have to analyze and absorb the impact you have created. You have to also check if your objective has been achieved or not?

For eg. you are conversing, be present emotionally, physically. Suppose you are playing with you child, be fully present.How it creates impact-you are having quality time with your child, you are able to enjoy yourself and have lovely memories as you are having a real feel and also you are happy.

Yes,  this gives you the real sense of life, real connection, and real feelings. Same goes for your work, your connections, your responsibilities. The multi-tasking activity has to be twisted with the addition of the element of full mindfull presence in the present activity.

I consider this can help us achieve more success and create more happiness in life!

Charu Mehrotra

Promoting excellence in women!

Entrepreneurs always look out for learning out ways to increase sales process in their business. I have come across these 2 videos which I think can be really helpful to fellow entrepreneurs-

I will request entrepreneurs to share their favorite sales related videos which they think can help people improve their skills. Thanks in advance:0!

Charu Mehrotra

Promoting excellence in women!

Very Happy International Women’s Day to lovely womenfolk around! 

Keep shining, smiling and dreaming always. Dreams can come true if one works towards fulfilling them. It is all about what goals one has in life and how she wants to achieve.

It is pleasure to share about a wonderful dreamer’s dreams which she has turned into reality with her hard work and dedication. Women Lines has shared about Shalima Motial in the entrepreneur of the month section sometimes back. On the occasion of IWD Shalima is sharing her splendid achievements in details which give a message that every thing is possible if you take action. Get some dose of motivation friends by reading about her achievements-

Shalima Motial, founder, and CEO of Dream Catchers has stayed true to her company’s name and has helped catch hundreds of people’s dreams! Dream Catchers is an online talent showcase company that also does niche events onstage/offline. Dream Catchers has the fandom of 17,000 fans who support the 1100+ entertainers and models Dream Catchers has showcased.  

The first few chapters of Dream Catchers’ journey involves Dream Catchers launch event “Love to Dance”: A competitive platform for women to showcase their dancing talent. Dancers from France, Singapore, Malaysia, India and Spain made up the 60 women represented in 8 groups who tore the stage down with stellar performances. The top three groups won big cash prizes sponsored by Dream Catchers. And if we flip a few pages forward, we’ll see a beautiful 4 seasons of “Most Wanted Entertainer”: An online talent contest that roped in over 500 artists! Dream Catchers received entries from Singapore, Malaysia, America, Russia, Philippines, Canada and India which summed up to a show-stopping start.

Along Dream Catcher’s voyage to catch dreams, many collaborations were born. For two years in a row, they presented as NUS’s online talent partners for their competition “Stardust”. During this voyage, Dream Catchers has had many ongoing collaborations with Radio Masti which brought to us a sundry of events. They associated with Colors channel as their online talent partners to bring “Colors Got Talent” and “Jhalak Dikhla ja (2016)”. Dream Catchers joined hands with artist Druv Kent to present Battle of the Bands (2016). The three bands who won were ushered to the prestigious Victoria Arts Theatre where they got an opportunity to perform! Shalima Motial organized Bandwidths’ 2013 and 2016 concert both of which were a rocking success! The 2016 concert was a sold-out show one week ahead of time with 1100 people attending. Teamwork Production’s Fans of Salim Sulaiman had Dream Catchers on their side as their online talent partners. They brought many artists on board for the competition and winners got a chance to perform on stage with none other than Salim and Sulaiman themselves(Composers of more than 100 Bollywood Film songs)

They partnered in a similar fashion for Fans of Farhan Akhtar too.

The most recent chapters have two going on three beautiful seasons of Runway Mom penned down. Runway Mom, Runway Lovers is Shalima’s  brainchild: Runway Mom, Runway Lovers is a platform for women of all ages, sizes, and backgrounds to walk the ramp with their loved ones. Whether it be, their spouse and/or child. Moms get to create lifetime memories that they’ll cherish for years to come. The event is packaged with seven pre-events where all the momdels (Mom models) get to let their hair down and embrace womanhood. It’s a perfect time to be talking about Runway Mom, Runway Lovers (Third season) as International Women’s day is right around the corner holding hands with Runway Mom, Runway Lovers! “Providing a platform for someone else to excel and catch their dreams is the most gratifying experience. It’s amazing how many forces unite and contribute to relevant projects like these and make them a success.” (Shalima Motial, Founder and CEO of Dream Catchers). Approximately 130 women would have walked the ramp at the wrap of the third season. This just means 130 women’s dreams Dream Catchers has caught. Each season has outdone itself and we can’t wait to see what more magic Dream Catchers have added in the 3rd season (11th March 2017).

Shalima is so happy that she’s been Blessed to be a part of something greater than herself and that she’s been able to catch people’s dreams through Dream Catchers. She believes that: “A great entrepreneur, will keep reinventing her/his business to cater to the needs of the market and this requires resilience and determination’. Dream Catchers has not only catered to the needs of the market but has catered to the need of fulfilling our dreams. We can’t wait for what’s next in store!

Charu Mehrotra

Promoting excellence in women!

1. Live in the Moment    

A must daily reminder to keep focus in present moment only and concentrate all thoughts actions and full energy on the job getting done to the best of one’s ability. Let’s face it, friends, that our mind is a chatter box with continuously ongoing monkey chatter. We should be motivating ourselves to keep ourselves not only physically but also emotionally, mentally in the present moment only.

2. Empathize more

In the daily rush, we often forget to understand other people and want to prove our point only. Being a better listener can help a lot to understand others point of views. There should be authenticity in our relationship and not mere for the sake of having a relationship.  This reminder is very important to keep our human values intact and in use and just not live a robotic life. It is all about having the empathetic approach to everybody.

3. Increase efficiency of time management

Time is precious and when it goes it never comes back. Our approach should be being mindful of the most productive usage of our time. Whether with family or work, we should work on simplifying our life and instead of multi-tasking we should be giving priority to our to-do list. In today’s techno world there are a variety of tools which can help in increasing ur productivity and efficiency. Apps like Evernote, Trello, are very helpful. I will request my readers to share their favorite apps which help them to increase their productivity.

4. Develop a Daily Inspirational Routine

Every day is a new day friend. Don’t let yourself drowned in everyday routine. To live life fully daily inspirational routine can help us to keep our motivation high, always. As a woman, we have to play many roles which demand energy and focus. Keep 10 mins every day to revise your goals in life, reading inspirational articles and listening to motivational videos.

5.  Always speak up and stand for yourself

As a woman, we often keep things to ourselves and don’t share our exact thoughts regarding various topics. Either in office or home, when there is need to stand in our favor, generally a majority of womenfolk prefer to keep quiet. If we really want to excel in life this habit needs to be changed. Speak up for yourself. You have full right to ask what you deserve.

Keep revising these goals friends and keep climbing the ladder of success. I wish you best of happiness and success in your life journey. Cheers!

Charu Mehrotra

Promoting excellence in women!

Social Media is a craze in today’s times!

Certainly, there are both positive and negative repercussions as of excessive indulgence in use of social media by users. I am getting overwhelmed by the wave of positive messages sharing on various social media platforms. Either in form of quotations or stories, whole social media is filled with groups, pages, websites and a lot more which talk about the importance of being positive in life.

It is a beautiful life, which we normally tend to forget to live fully by surrounding ourselves with all negative emotions of frustration, depression, getting disheartened, and so many other negative emotions. In such scenario, all this social media sharing really helps people to fight with their negativities and live a positive life. Especially for old age group, social media is really a channel to keep themselves connected and read what they like. Life is busy for everybody and then such sharing on facebook, whats app or other social media only help us to stay connected and help each other to be positive always. Instead of getting influenced by the negative side of social media craze let’s just focus on positive reading and sharing which can help us to excel in life.

It is time to carry out this positivity movement on a larger scale and share so much positivity around so that nobody is sad and living their life fully by living in present. So keep on sharing positive stories friends and be a part of this movement!!

Charu Mehrotra

Promoting excellence in women!

I was previously an Assistant Vice President at OCBC Bank. Primarily focused on launching the digital initiatives and campaigns, working closely with the wealth, digital and marketing to drive innovations.

Previously served as Risk Assurance Associate at PwC London office, worked with UK Financial Institutions to develop implementation plans for the changes required for USA Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) compliance and regulatory assessment for UK Financial Institutions.

I started PolicyPal in April 2016, have since joined Startupbootcamp Fintech and Income Future Starter.

2. So when did you venture into this venture and what inspired or motivated you to take a plunge into this venture?

Several years ago, my mom was diagnosed with cancer and had her insurance claim unexpectedly rejected because of several lapses my family was unaware of. Despite the medical crisis, my siblings and I had to scour through stacks of insurance documentation to check and understand the extent of my Mum’s coverage. This painful experience made me realized the importance of having a well-organized folder of my insurance policies and documents.

I thought, if this could happen to me, it could happen to anyone. Why not create a digital folder for my friends to consolidate their insurance policies? Without a doubt, it was hard for me to give up a career on the leadership management track in the banking sector. However, I soon realized that my conviction to help make a difference to the lives around me was simply over empowering.

3. Can you share with us some of the challenges you faced during your initial days?

The startup is difficult. Focus, do one business at a time and commit to it until it blooms and blossoms. As the insurance space is huge, we had many people telling us to try different managing different areas and move to banking accounts, investments, etc. Figuring out how to juggle near-term priorities with mid to long-term priorities. There is no “one” thing – it could be funding, product development, partnerships, recruiting, etc.

Talent or lack thereof is a huge problem. We need super smart, highly motivated team to create a great startup. Unfortunately, these are hard to come by unless you are willing to pay top market rate. There are not enough resources yet so many opportunities., we need to have laser focus and know when to say no. There are so many opportunities that it can quickly distract the progress if we try to address them all.

I also learned that we must be ready to fail as it’s another form of learning. It’s a journey, not a destination, so you better enjoy the trip!

4. So how do you balance your personal and professional life?

It takes being mindful of priorities. You do the business to make your life better, not give your life to make the business better. The kids will only be little for a very small time, and if you miss that, you can’t make it up. Relationships matter to most of us. It’s easier to build a business or find a new job than to find a new spouse.

One insight required is that at a startup there is always more to do. Work could be 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and there will still be more to do. So you stay aware of what’s most important.

5. What would you suggest to other aspiring women who want to venture out on their own?

Find a female Mentor: Being a woman, and finding and working with female mentors have been a game changer. There are many experiences you will have as an aspiring entrepreneur that men don’t undergo, and it’s important to find and build friendships, mentorships, with the same gender who can understand 100% what you’re going through. Find female groups and initiatives that provide support to each other.

Don’t spread yourself too thin. Find out what you believe in, and learn what you don’t know. It will be somewhere awesome because of the hard work you put into your journey. Don’t just start a tech startup to start a tech startup. It’s too difficult. Rather, go deep on a mission, market that captures your curiosity, and that you can imagine working on for the next 10 years. Be extraordinarily good at it that people come to you for your expertise.

Work smarter, not harder. Your career as an entrepreneur is not about, “Just keep going.” It’s about, ”What can I do to deliver and build the thing I am passionate about bringing into this world?” You can find shortcuts that allow you to serve your market and show amazing results.

6. Is there any person who has mentored/supported/inspired you?

J.K. Rowling had just gotten a divorce, was on government aid, and could barely afford to feed her baby in 1994, just three years before the first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone, was published. While Rowling was writing the first book she lost her mother Anne and so she introduced more about Harry’s loss in the first book. When she was shopping it out, she was so poor she couldn’t afford a computer or even the cost of photocopying the 90,000-word novel, so she manually typed out each version to send to publishers. It was rejected dozens of times until finally Bloomsbury, a small London publisher, gave it a second chance after the CEO’s eight-year-old daughter fell in love with it.

7. What do you have in the pipeline for your venture’s future development?
PolicyPal is looking to collaborate with insurers to help them bridge their gap with the consumers. We will soon be launching a feature where you can start sharing your insurance policies with your family members so that they can have access to them during an emergency.

Mr. Perfectionist Aamir Khan, you are a perfectionist in real terms!

Movie Dangal is another feather in your cap of blockbuster movies which stands out in a crowd of certain substandard movies in present times. Time is changing very fast and so is the mindset of the youth section of our society. Somehow because of crazy social media trends, girls nowadays are getting more focused on just the way they look and what they wear. This movie has alerted Gals of today about developing a killing aspiration to achieve something in life and putting hard work and passion behind achieving that dream.

Girls are working, they are financially independent but somehow, suddenly everybody wants to achieve only slim figure and wear short dresses which they love to imitate from movie stars of today. But hang on gals!!!You just cannot spend the whole young age of your life worrying about your figure and looks. This is the time when you should be having your list of goals to achieve in life. You should be developing your other skills which can help you to move ahead. Eating healthy and exercising as per requirement of your body will definitely help to lead a healthy life and having a slim body. If a girl from the village can get a gold in Olympics then why not city girls?

Life is beautiful and time is precious. Be mindful how and where you are using your time. Get a dose of inspiration by watching movie Dangal and work towards making your life more meaningful.

Charu Mehrotra

Promoting excellence in women!

“Some people have lives; some people have music.” -John Green, Will Grayson
And those who have music, they want to spend whole life celebrating excellence in music!

Roopali Ganguly is a very talented music teacher in Singapore, who falls in this category of people. Roopali hails from a rich musical background and she has received her initial Indian

classical training by her father Sri Arun Kumar Ganguly, later she joined Prayag Sangeet Samiti under Guru T.N. Sharma and learned Hindustani vocal later she learned Bhav sangeet from Guru Viswakarma of Prayag Sangeet Samiti. She has also learned Ravindra sangeet from Guru Swapan Samaddar from Bangiya Kala Kendra Kolkata. She has done her Prabhakar in classical guitar from Prayag Sangeet Samiti.

Roopali a software engineer by profession and has been working as an HR over the years but her musical passion and the quest for musical knowledge has made her dive deep into the ocean of music. She has started her own venture Musical Offerings, as a music teacher.Roopali is a student of SIFAS, learning  Hindustani vocal under the tutelage of Guru Susanta Chowdhury, she has won the best student award in Hindustani vocal in 2014. Besides, she is well versed in western piano and is a freelance piano teacher of ABRSM Singapore. As a vocalist, she has performed in India, at SIFAS and many cultural organizations here and has also performed as a pianist at Yamaha and Cristofori and at other prestigious platforms of Singapore. Women Lines feels pleasure to share about Roopali’s musical journey in her own words-

1. So when did you venture into this and what motivated you

I started learning piano from Yamaha in 2010 and also joined SIFAS in 2011 as a hobby, I was able to get through most of the exams with distinctions in ABRSM and awards in SIFAS. So it gave me a spark to start my career in teaching and I started my music classes in 2012. I never thought I will grow into this as a career and will be glued to this profession. So my motivation was my musical knowledge and the quest of exploring the knowledge into its depths.

2. Can you share with us some of the challenges faced during the initial days?

 During my initial days, it was pretty challenging to teach music as a subject from home as being the mother of two young kids was not easy but my passion towards music and my knack for teaching compelled me to focus on my work and I kept on moving.

3.So how do you balance your personal and professional life?

Well, to strike a balance between my personal and professional life I just follow one quotation “choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life .”

4.What would you suggest to other aspiring women who want to venture out on their own?

Women who believe in themselves can bring a change to the world. Self-belief and self-confidence are the keys to the growth of women hood. I will only say that every girl who has seen a dream from childhood should never stop dreaming and if given a chance must pursue her dreams and desires and realize her hidden talents and potentials.

5 . Is there any person who has mentored/ supported or inspired you?

Well, the person who has always believed in me and because of whom I am a successful musician, Composer and music teacher is my Husband, Mr. Hemanta Banerjee, he wanted that I should follow my dreams and pursue my passion of learning music and compelled me to learn music again after so many years. My Father is a living example for me who has inspired me from childhood to always pursue my singing and my mother from childhood was always there for me to encourage me for my singing lessons and was my first audience. In Singapore, I met my wonderful teacher Guru Susanta Chowdhury of SIFAS under whose guidance I groomed into a fine vocalist and bagged the best student award in Hindustani Vocal from SIFAS in the year 2014. I also made very good friends here who once made me believe at a point in my life that education never goes waste and it proved very true with me in all my endeavors. My piano teacher Miss. Cindy and teacher Evelyn ‘ s fine grooming helped me to master in western piano. My other close friend’s help and guidance also inspired me to make my self-belief strong.

6.What do you have in the pipeline for your ventures future development?

Musical Offerings as the name I chose itself says that we have to offer music for everyone.3 years ago, the Musical Offerings was formed and ever since then it has backed raw talent with confidence and given them a platform to showcase their talent under artist and mentor Ms. Roopali Ganguly.Every annual function of Musical Offerings witnesses heart-warming performances by the team of passionate artists; and this year it got bigger, brighter and merrier as our theme was Diwali & Christmas delight’.

We had recently given our annual day presentation at Esplanade library open stage on 9th of November 2016 to celebrate the 3rd (year )annual day of musical offerings. The show was very well organized and all the students had given outstanding performances.

Since three years Musical Offerings students have performed and passed with excellence in ABRSM piano practical and theory exams conducted by the ABRSM Singapore board. Most of the students come out with distinctions and merits.

In future musical offerings wishes to grow and give much better services to talented aspiring students.

Women Lines wishes all the best to Roopali for her bright future!

Please do visit these links to watch fantastic performances by Musical Offerings students and Roopali –

https://youtu.be/QB3fRazwf6Q

https://youtu.be/SNw39hwZKjQ

https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=BDmBFBfyE4I

https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=7sbw9AYuGOg

To know more about musical offerings, please visit-

https://www.facebook.com/rupsmusic/

Charu Mehrotra

Promoting excellence in women!

Hi Gals, It is TGIF:)!

Take a break and have some relaxing time for yourself! But be mindful how you relax.  Watching television can be a good idea, but be mindful what are you watching. Instead of watching senseless programs like serials watch something which stimulates your mind. On social media also, just killing time browsing Instagram pages of celebrities all following facebook profiles can give you fun, but don’t exaggerate it. Reading can be also fun, but avoid those colorful magazines without content.

I just read a forward shared by my friend highlighting about the repercussions about wrong media targets on women. Any female magazine we take is filled up with ads only. Hardly there is any quality content. Just remove all ad pages of such magazines and check with how much worth reading the content you are left with. And whatever content is there it only talks about shortcomings in women. Articles about how to improve figure, or complexion, or hair.

Keep yourself away from getting overpowered by media friends. Time has come to change the mindset and as mothers, we have to be mindful what mindset our daughters are building up. Life is not only about maintaining a good figure and complexion and getting your dream man. Life is beautiful and so many things to do. Develop a skill, become financially independent, follow your hobby, give back to society. Have goals for self-improvement.

Start being mindful friends where are you spending time. Choose your friends carefully who have the same mindset as yours. Remove all negative words from life and fill it with positivity. In nutshell want to share a quote-

“Eat better. Run more. Squat more. Sleep earlier. Wake up earlier. Make a healthy breakfast. Drink water, eat fruit. Read Books. Adventure. Talk less. Listen more. Feel deeper. Love better. Open your eyes. Experience life. Be happy”

Charu Mehrotra

Promoting excellence in women!

Swati Palekar pulled me in towards her stall named Swayam, which was filled with beautiful bright colored amazingly creative art pieces. Swati is the owner of Swayam Folk Art Painting in Singapore. I found it truly addicting and as soon as I discovered her work I had to see all.Fun, full of life and vibrant.These are the great feelings I feel viewing her products. The energy of her work is extremely positive and her creativity is excellent. Read about her entrepreneurial journey in her own words-

1.Please share with our readers’ little bit about yourself?    

I’m a Singapore based, self-taught artist who began her journey in folk art painting in 2012 after quitting a full-time career in finance and digital marketing. Art and craft have always fascinated me since childhood. I inherited this love for art from my mom who is an artist herself. Little did I know that my attempt at trying hands at Indian folk art paintings would grow into a passion leading to establishing a brand named ‘Swayam’ which is turning 4 this month. I specialize in Indian folk and tribal art paintings and use these traditional forms of art in creating trendy, contemporary & chic home décor products. Every product under Swayam’s label has been designed and hand painted with lots of love and patience in my studio in Singapore. I conduct folk art painting workshops for kids and adults and have lots more to do. I had some wonderful opportunities to exhibit my work in some reputed Art fairs in Singapore as well as alongside leading lifestyle brands which were very well received by local and expat communities. Thank you, Women Lines, for giving me such a wonderful platform to share my humble journey with Swayam folk art.

2. So when did you venture into this venture and what inspired or motivated you to take a plunge into this venture?

I grew up in an environment where I was constantly exposed to art all around me day in and day out as my Mom was a working artist back then and a true entrepreneur at heart. When I look back I really admire the number of works she had produced and the creative initiatives she had taken with all the limited resources she had. So I believe the seeds of creativity were sown during my childhood itself. Although she believed in me that I could do very well if I pursue a creative field, I chose to go with Finance, working for almost a decade in  Banking and Digital marketing sector. Till then I had no aspirations to become a working artist. But I have always been fascinated by folk art style painting. There is a certain charm in folk art style painting that drew me towards it. Firstly simplicity in style yet so profound. It’s a common man’s art, Art every layman can relate to and appreciate and practice as well. Around 5 years back after I quit my job here in Singapore the first thing that naturally occurred to me was to explore more of this form of art. I started researching more about the folk art forms and painting. One experiment led to another. But it was limited to just a hobby, a passion. Soon I started posting images of what I was making on the internet (just for fun). ‘Swayam ‘ was born due to the persistence of my dear friends who pushed me to take it to the next level and pursue my passion professionally and insisted I showcase my work in one of the festive Bazaars in Singapore. That’s it, it all started then. I set up a studio on my little dining table, came up with a Brand name, Product line, Exhibitions, Online marketing, followed by workshops followed by painting commissions and now my very own studio space. When I look back I realize that the key motivation and inspiration which drove me was discovering who I am and what I’m capable of achieving, living my passion and experience the joy of accomplishment on achieving those small mini-milestones.

3. Can you share with us some of the challenges you faced during your initial days?

Innumerable. Some of them I face every day in fact. I used to get overwhelmed with them initially. Believing in yourself, your art is one that was my very first challenge. There is always the risk of rejection but then as an artist, you cannot have success without risks. It is very important to put your work out there. I too face those artist block moments which were initially very very frustrating. But the key is persistence and faith in oneself which is very crucial to keep an artist sailing through is what I learned. The other personal challenge was discipline. Discipline to assign dedicated time and space for doing my art. I realized once my creative juices start flowing I am totally disconnected to the present. I just want to sit and paint before that design concept vanishes, the colors and patterns I visualize disappear. But then being a full-time mom and a homemaker that is not practical every time. Striking balance between personal and professional life is another big challenge which is easier said then done especially when you are the whole and sole in both the arenas. Creating is just one part of being an artist. Getting clients for your work is also equally important, especially for the sustenance of new artists. Creating ads, clicking product pics, pricing the product, packaging and the list goes on. Its all a one-woman show at Swayam. Professional help in the initial years was not really affordable for my small home-based business, so I had to learn all these skills, and it is been amazing. I’d like to share one very important challenge I face till today – making the clients understand the handmade process. what goes into the creation of each and every product unlike the mass factory produced goods. And since not every person is aware they sadly fail to respect handmade products by way of bargaining. Asking discounts is not wrong. Its always good to ask as some artists may have kept some margin for discounts. But without understanding the process when the prices are bargained by just converting the prices in SGD to Indian rupees (solely because the product is created using Indian folk art style) was something I experienced a lot in my initial years. I have not overcome all the challenges completely, but I can handle them much better today. The joy of following your passion makes it all worthwhile!

4. So how do you balance your personal and professional life?

Frankly speaking, I have not completely achieved that yet.. There are times I’m so drowned in work, trying to meet deadlines for events/commissions or workshops that I tend to overlook my personal life. Also, there are times when my presence at home is the utmost priority and I have stepped back a bit from my work. A bit of discipline and time management has helped me achieve a certain level of equilibrium. And some days I try and just let go. Swayam has taught me a lot. Its not only about painting or art. Apart from the artistic skills, it teaches me very valuable life skills day in and day out. So hopefully someday I will achieve that perfect work-life balance too, and when I achieve that I will be happy to share it with you all:)

 5. What would you suggest to other aspiring women who want to venture out on their own?

I meet so many wonderful ladies in course of my events and workshops and also get to connect with a lot of them online. They are all so intelligent and have immense talent. Some of them not even aware of what they are capable of achieving. And just like many of us they get too engrossed in nurturing their family. Over a period of time sadly they have lost their sense of self. I’m no expert who can give talks about running a business successfully.  But one thing I would like to share here is that if you really have the urge to do something go ahead and take that first step and set realistic goals for yourself. Easier said than done, I know. Doubts, fears, insecurities, of course, they all will be there.I too have them and have not overcome them completely. But I feel its good to identify them and accept them. That way we know what areas we need to work on. And surround yourself with family and friends who will genuinely motivate you and are positive. We all have the talent and resources within us, just need that initial push to step out of our comfort zone. Its a struggle..but once you take that first step the path unfolds on its own:)

6. Is there any person who has mentored/supported/inspired you?

Of course, there are so many who have directly and indirectly influenced me, supported me as well as inspired me in my creative endeavors. I did not have any formal mentor though. As I said earlier the creative seeds were sown by my mom under whose guidance I was exposed to so many different art forms. I learned folk art style painting by researching and studying work of various artists.  There are so many works done by men and women in rural and tribal areas of India, many of them whose names we don’t even know. I consider all of them as my Virtual Gurus and owe it all to them. They are my real inspirations. There is no use of sophisticated art supplies nor do they have any formal training as such but yet the artists manage to create some beautiful masterpieces.That’s the beauty of folk and tribal art. Its all so inspiring. Support from family and friends definitely plays a vital role and I am fortunate to have it all. But it doesn’t stop at just getting inspired. What is important is picking up that brush and make the first stroke.

7.What do you have in the pipeline for your venture’s  future development?

There are many many ideas waiting to be executed. In terms of workshops and products which will be globally appealing. I have a blog, website in the pipeline for a long time. Now that I’m sharing about this publicly this will push me to work more aggressively on it and hopefully, you will see it up and running soon.

Womenlines wishes Swati best of luck for her beautiful future!

Follow Swayam Folkart Painting by Swati Palekar on-

Facebook.com/Swayam.SwatiPalekar and on Instagram @swayamfolkartpainting

Email swayamfolkartpainting@gmail.com

Charu Mehrotra

Promoting excellence in women!