Various NGOs and women entrepreneurs participated in a lifestyle exhibition on July 22, which was conceptualized to create a marketplace that would offer them exposure to high-end buyers they would not encounter otherwise. The market was created by NGO Purnam, which is spearheaded by Saroj Bhatia, Indu Gupta, Jani Dhingra and Sarita Baluja, that has been offering a platform for entrepreneurs to showcase their innovative products for nine years.
On display at the exhibition, which brought together six NGOs this year, were a wide range of products such as textiles, furnishings, decor items, wedding paraphernalia and snack stalls.
The Raahat Ghar stall that focuses on empowering women, especially widows in Kashmir, brought in the spirit of the Rakshabandhan festival by selling a number of hand-made rakhis along with necklaces, suits, bags and jholas, which were simple to look at and affordably priced.
Anil Pandey, the founder of Samast Samarpan Foundation that is based in West Bengal and Jharkhand and works with a tribe called ‘Gulgulias’, claims the tribe is one with very low literacy levels. He now plans to educate the women and children to help them be socially aware and lead better lives. Through this exhibition, the NGO seeks to raise awareness rather that earn profits. This was evident by how humbly the goods, made by the women of the tribe, were priced. The lifestyle expo also had high-end stores selling luxurious products. Sanam Tamanna was one such luxurious brand from Dubai, which survives solely on exhibitions of this kind where it can reach a particular class of buyers, which was present.
Sarita Baluja, one of the four founders of Purnam, says the idea of curating such a market place is to give entrepreneurs a space to exhibit and reach out to a section of urban shoppers that they would otherwise not have access to. “We do not refuse anybody who wants to showcase talent. Over the years, many NGOs have partnered with us and taken the initiative to places in Punjab and even abroad,” says Ms. Baluja.
The day-long exhibition was organised at The Ashok hotel.
