A commerce graduate from Bangalore University, Smt Pavitra YS was pursuing her Chartered Accountancy at the time of founding Vindhya. She has also done her Executive General Management Program from IIM-Bangalore. Not the one to sit on her laurels, she has many plans for the future. She talked about this, her motivation and her idea of being an Indian Woman to Organiser.
What motivated you to start this BPO, considering that it primarily has people with disabilities?
I come from a family which believes in lot of social principles and hence have always been concerned about the disadvantaged people in our society. Moreover, my parents being doctors, I used to witness their service to people from various strata of the society. But what also motivated me was the unemployment scenario in the country then. Initially, we started as a small concern with 5 PWD. It was hardwork but I was determined and beleived that I was destined to do this.
I never wanted to start a charity rather wanted to provide profitable employment to PWDs and also be profitable. Bringing people with disabilities to the mainstream and enabling them to earn was the goal. This is the reason we started Vindhya as a profitable BPO.
Being a woman, did you face any particular hiccups in your endeavors?
Frankly, there are challenges in any start-up and not necessarily because I am a woman. Balancing different aspects of life should be a priority. There were challenges when I started as I had to give 100 per cent and my time with the family took a backseat initially. However, when things settled down, I managed to give more time to the family. Hence to overcome any hiccups, women have to be self-motivated. I necessarily don’t see any difference in men and women in terms of their abilities. Mutual respect towards each other is needed to have a balanced life. My husband has always been supportive and I support him in every way.It has been 10 years now and I have been able to have a proper work-life balance.
While the world celebrates women’s day, what does ‘being an Indian woman’ mean to you?
What really makes Indian women different are our traditional values. Our upbringing in Indian values and thought process has equipped us to achieve in any field. Today, women are being independent and are empowered. For example, women in Micro finance sector are not only financially independent but have supported their families too. I feel we as women, have to break the stigma and come out of the feeling that we cannot do much beyond traditional chores. Positive changes are happening all across the country. We only have to set the right examples to others. n
