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Indrani Chakraborty had a dream of entertaining friends and weary travellers and that is how Svanir Wilderness Ecostay was born!
Excerpts from an interview with Indrani Chakraborty, founder of Svanir Wilderness Ecostay. Indrani Chakraborty and her husband Soumya Mukherji want to revive the concept of ‘slow travel’, where travellers can reconnect with one another as well as nature.
When did you start Svanir Wilderness Ecostay and what was the intention?
In the words of Indrani Chakraborty, founder of Svanir Wilderness Ecostay-
I started my company in August 2019. I and my husband decided to leave our stressful jobs to pursue a common dream of building something we could call our own while living a peaceful life close to nature. That was the spark for Svanir, which means ‘Own Home.’
Ultimately, we want to revive the concept of ‘slow travel’ where travellers can reconnect with one another as well as nature.
Odisha’s huge tourism potential has always remained untapped because of poor infrastructure. We want our homestay to be a cost-effective model which can be replicated near other places of interest like forests, temples, historical monuments and beaches.
What was the biggest challenge you faced in starting the company?
Being one of the first ‘real’ Homestays in Bhubaneshwar, it was and still is very difficult for us to make people understand the difference between a homestay and a hotel. So, we had to say NO to many travellers (even when we were going through a lean patch) when we sensed they were looking for a sprawling resort, 5-star amenities and 24 hours room service.
What is the biggest mistake you made while starting your company in the initial few years?
I tried recruiting staff from other parts of Odisha who were only looking at this in monetary terms and had no connection to this place. I would train then and they would jump ship.
I soon realised we should involve the local community to build a win-win relationship as they had deep routes here and we’re eager to supplement their meagre incomes.
Now I can proudly say this is a women-led homestay where I support six families from the village whom we share an address with.
If there was one thing you could advise to a budding woman entrepreneur, what would it be?
Don’t lose hope. When one avenue closes, a better one will soon open if you persevere. Also, don’t become rigid. Be open to trying out new ideas.
(Women’s Web, in collaboration with HEN India, will present a series of interviews with women entrepreneurs. ‘HEN- Her Entrepreneurial Network’ is a community of Indian Women Entrepreneurs, connected by a vision to inspire, inform and support each other.)
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"I chose to go out into the remote, wild, unknown, and make it home," says entrepreneur Kiranjeet Ahluwalia Chaturvedi, who owns Birdsong & Beyond.
The story of my mountain home Birdsong & Beyond started taking shape in 2009, on the internet, the way many stories do these days.
My childhood fascination for a life in the Himalayas led to an internship with a central Himalayan NGO instead of a much prized corporate assignment. But when they offered me a full-time job, I refused. I was overcome by fear and a lack of confidence.
My other longings pulled me away – the longing to fit in, to earn validation from others. By my mid-30s, with all the trappings of a middle-class urban life in place, the call of the snows couldn’t be ignored anymore. So I got to work on it with clearer intentions and a stronger sense of what I needed for myself, and why.
Many Indian elderly are firm believers in enslaving a daughter-in-law in the name of tradition which is actually a tradition of oppression and not of religious faith.
Albeit, the popular culture has interpreted scriptures as suggesting that Kanyadaan is the supreme form of donation given to someone, the connotation that the word donation alludes to definitely objectifies the girl.
Even when the exegesis justify the act of giving away the daughter, considering it a ritual to mark the initiation of the daughter into her husband’s gotra and her becoming the part of his family tree.
There is no denial of the fact that this initiation is not required on the part of the groom thereby formally denoting the end of the filial ties with the daughter as it was popularly instructed to the bride during the Vidai ceremonies:
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