“If Decoding Draupadi continues to be just my mission, I will have failed.
My extended family was like every other Indian household. I saw women in despair; most of them put up a brave face very often.
For a long time, I couldn’t figure out what was wrong.
My pea-sized brain (I was 7!) would ask, “”Why are they not leaving their marriages if they’re unhappy? They have another home after all.””
And so, I concluded that they lacked confidence. That they were not taught to think they were capable.
As I grew up, I realised how narrow my lens was. Women’s issues in India are multifaceted, layered, and complex.
To change that, I spent time trying to understand how the upbringing of young girls impacted independence, their chance at good marriages (for instance), and the overall agency of their lives.
I was an armchair activist. And had settled for that. The reasons were many, but I didn’t think I could create ANY impact till I turned 40.
In 2021, that changed.
I joined C4E as a content intern. In just a few months, it turned into a Founder’s Office / Chief of Staff role.
I was spending all my time with Saurabh Garg and Pooja Sahatiya – writing content, shadowing them while they managed projects, and executing new ideas.
Thanks to the fact that I NEVER shut up, I’d often talk about the women around me. Most of these were rants and unanswered questions.
I was also chatting with SG about C4E and building the org; I knew that we seeded businesses but I didn’t connect the dots.
In the first 6 months, I was exposed to an unreal amount of information, people, and ideas. I was thrown into deep waters, and I had to learn to find my way out. I was shown that I could do much more if I intended to.
In short – I was taught to dream big. C4E made me think about solving for the professional independence of women TODAY instead of in 2074.
And when I did that, I realised it was a gigantic goal and it needed the world to come together.
That became my starting point. To tell the world what we have set out to do to search through the crowd for supporters, believers, missionaries, and lurkers.
And thus, Decoding Draupadi.
DD is a for-profit, social enterprise, solving for women’s issues in India.
In the past year, we’ve adopted a content-first approach while also building products and services that increase women’s representation on important tables.
As of Oct 24, 2023, Decoding Draupadi is not just my mission. It is for every woman in India to find her voice, her place in the world, and contribute to the community at large.
This note is thus an attempt to find more people who resonate with this mission.
📌 Who are we looking for?
- Young, ambitious students/graduates – we are hiring!
- Women who resonate with what we’re doing and would like to be involved in the capacity of a board member or supporter. Or, feature as a guest in our podcast.
Anshika Kushwaha #womeninbusiness”