Dare to dream

Located in a shady area near Ultadanga,the factory,under the dynamic leadership of Das,got transformed from a small one room house to a two-storeyed building. Initially,the factory was set up at a very obscure street in North Kolkata. Later,in the year 2009,due to the size of her establishment,she shifted her base to Ultadanga.

With three other siblings and poor financial condition of her father,Rakhee’s childhood was not very smooth. ” My father could not afford to provide a Maths private tuitor for me. We did not even have that amount of money to arrange for private tuitors”,said Rakhee. Just a mere graduate,she could never dare to chase her dreams due to the financial constraints of her father. Mother of two children,Rakhee began her search for her own identity much later in life. ” I did not have any formal degree in designing. My urge to accomplish myself and my curiosity has brought me where I am today”,Rakhee further said. A resident of Amherst Street,Rakhee also had to fight a long battle with her husband. Drawing her inspiration from different independant woman entrepreneur,Rakhee decided to set up a garment factory. Even in the initial struggling period no one offered a helping hand to her. She had to mortgage her own ornaments to arrange for the initial capital necessary.

The factory has offered employment to 65 labours,out of which nearly 40 are women. Among these labours,one deserves special mention. Apurbo Das,an eunuch,is a resident of Shyam Nagar,who also has been given an employment by Das. These labours,belonging to the lower rung of the society,are being taken care of by Das. Starting with providing a job for them to arranging for their shelter and food,Rakhee has done it all.

Das started off with producing hoisery garments for kids. Over the years,under her leadership,the company has grown from strength to strength manufacturing various items. Her ambition to make it big has icreased the production manifold. It produces almost thousands of items monthly which are being bought by many well known companies. Her customers also include people from Mumbai and Delhi. She also sponsors jerseys for ‘North Calcutta Rifle Club’.

However,her endeavors were recognised and she was awarded as the ‘Outstanding Entrepreneur’ of this year by Swyan Udyogi Nari Association. Apart from this formal recognition,Das has earned the support and good wishes of all her workers and partner. M.K. Dutta,a long standing partner of Das,said,” It is my privilege to work with such a dynamic lady.”

Rakhee plans to enlarge her establishment and provide employment to many more women and less fortunate people of our society. She dreams of exporting her products and is working hard towards it. When asked about it,she said,” I have already managed to procure the license. I wish to start exporting my items by early next year.”