The individual with the vision to represent the face of the new Indian woman and a woman of her own substance is none other than the successful entrepreneur of today – Swati Vakharia.
Swati is the brain child behind the very successfully-run platform for women: ‘Women Planet’ and ‘Women Planet Foundation’, charitable trust. From her childhood days, Swati was was opposed to what she saw as the hypocrisy and duplicity of Indian society towards women. In 2012 the gruesome case of the Delhi gang rape was the tipping point for her. That incident instigated within Swati an urge to try and bring about a change to the situation in which Indian women often find themselves. Swati decided she wanted to make a real difference. Leveraging power of digitisation and its measurable effect, in a short few weeks she came up with the idea of an open online platform where she could bring like-minded people together to share their thoughts and educate women on various concerns.
Today Women Platform is successfully running with an aim to educate, empower, and entertain. It’s a podium where individuals from different walks of life can congregate, spread awareness and enlighten each other on the rights of women in society. Women Planet provides free Q&A sessions and support with the help of a plethora of unique and unusual set of experts including gardeners, lingerie experts and many more. Ever since then there has been no turning back. Today, Women Planet has nearly 3 lakhs followers from all across the world – which a tremendous number for a young start up to achieve.
However Swati didn’t stop there. She had set her sights on bigger achievements. Even though digital platforms help in linking a great number of people, she realised there are still areas and places in India where internet availability is questionable. Keeping this in mind, and with a clear focus on reaching to as many women as she could, she is now also a founder of Women Planet Foundation – a charitable trust. Swati is on a mission to empower rural women and women from small cities by educating them on various concerns.
The individual with the vision to represent the face of the new Indian woman and a woman of her own substance is none other than the successful entrepreneur of today
The barriers that rural women face with regards to culture and awareness can harm their chances of obtaining equal rights. Through Women Planet she conducts several seminars and workshops for women dealing with their health, hygiene, education, supporting small scale entrepreneurs. The focus is not only on social issues that women in our society face but also to address the need and importance of well-being and sanitation of women in India. She is currently working on a menstrual hygiene booklet that can be distributed free of cost in rural areas as well as social campaigns that encourage education of women and the provision of additional resources from awareness, to saliency, to action.
In the midst of multitasking Swati dons many hats. From individually running the digital platform to heading the marketing division and being a successful founder of the charitable trust, Swati truly signifies the spirit of necessity with artistry. She chose to make unusual choices and willingly chose a path that may not seem ideal to many, but has emerged unscathed and beaming like a winner! The uncanny ability to transform into an entrepreneur comes to her with utmost ease.
Besides this she is also associated with NGOs including Srotoshwini Trust and Olakh to reach a wider number of individuals. Versatility is the virtue she epitomises and she loves to dabble in various challenging mediums.
Speaking on her role of a founder of this unique concept, Swati Vakharia says, “Empowerment allows any individual to reach their full potential and to believe in their own capabilities. Considering the fact that today women can achieve anything they wish for if given proper exposure and guidance, through Women Planet I want them to achieve this and much more. It is my small way of giving back something to society. I plan to continue coming up with new ways and concepts of reaching out to women as I truly believe in the saying that when you enlighten a woman, you enlighten the whole generation.”
