HYDERABAD: Rumana Sinha Sehgal, a software engineer-turned-entrepreneur launched Serendipity in 2012, a company that creates recycled art and installations. She recently won the Social Entrepreneur of the Year award at Entrepreneur Awards 2023. She is also also a recipient of the Karmaveer Chakra constituted by the UN and iCongo. She won the prestigious Nelson Mandela World Humanitarian Award 2021 from the Diplomatic Mission Global Peace. Besides being an entrepreneur and a humanitarian, she is also an ace sculptor, writer, poet and singer and a popular TEDx speaker. CE speaks with this multi-talented personality to know what keeps her driven and inspired to create social change:
Could you tell us about the beginning of your entrepreneurial journey?
Transitioning into an entrepreneur wasn’t something that I had envisioned. The entire thing happened when I was on a sabbatical and my eldest son had just started schooling. I, being a very involved mother, a hands-on mom, was always a part of his educational journey, helping him with his school projects. One day he asked me if I could create an elephant for him for a show-and-tell competition at school. He wanted a 3D model. So I gathered everything I got at home, put it together and created an elephant.
That actually caught the eye of the people in the school. Then they had a Christmas carnival coming up and I collaborated with a few carpenters to create a ‘Winnie The Pooh’ photo booth for them. Working with recycled materials began there and Serendipity was formed in 2012. Gradually over the years, I also found an innate need to convert this into a social value solution for the people. It needed to translate into a source of livelihood for the ones who were working for me. That’s how the entire organisation came into being. I started mapping the organisational goals to the sustainable development goals.
Also, I’m very passionate about working on creating value, supporting women, finding a voice for gender equality and stopping violence against women and children. Being the global goodwill ambassador for Yuvraj Singh Foundation, YouWeCan, aligns with my passion to contribute to the healthcare sector, spreading awareness of cancer care across various zones. I launched the menstrual hygiene drive in Telangana in 2018, launching the first biodegradable sanitary napkins. It has been a multi-fold journey, travelling several tributaries at the same time with equal passion and delivering the best.
How did you come up with the title Serendipity?
Serendipity typically means discovering something by chance and I think I’ve discovered and rediscovered myself time and again.
Could you explain the ‘social’ aspect of being an entrepreneur?
What has driven me in my work is the recognition that came as a Karmaveer Chakra from the UN. I think that recognition pushed me to the next level of giving back to society much more than what I was doing earlier. There’s a time in life wherein you realise this high time I need to give back to society. That innate change is what as entrepreneurs we need to bring about. It’s not always about yourself or the organisation. It has worked beautifully for me because I find my peace in giving back to society and being a humanitarian.
Does your investment in arts make you more of a reflective person or make the process a meditative one?
I wouldn’t call it a meditative process. It just makes me more of an enabler. It helps me translate my thoughts into action. That creates an impact. Being an artist, a writer and a poet drives me through my journey as an entrepreneur.
Could you shed some light on the challenges you might have faced?
Every single entrepreneur has this challenge of having a certain amount of profitability that you would like to see in an organisation. But as a social entrepreneur, my vision has never been in terms of financials. It’s always been in terms of the impact that I’ve made. Overcoming that challenge has been possible with the collaborations and support from friends, organisations, working partners and the governments of Telangana and India. TEDx being a connecting platform has given me an opportunity to reach out to the masses. The art I create forms a cash inflow for the organisation for the other initiatives that I drive.
What has been your experience of working with women from various backgrounds?
I’ve been in community service from a very young age. When I work with the community, especially with women and in the rural sector, there is a little bit of inhibition. Connecting with the masses is possible, irrespective of gender when you connect with your hearts.
Could you elaborate a little on ‘connecting with hearts’?
A simple example that I would like to cite is when we were working on the menstrual hygiene campaign and talking about the distribution of sanitary pads in the villages, I was very shocked to see that girls have no idea about sanitary pads. They use coconut husk with ash. So how do you actually break the practice? First of all, you overcome the challenge yourself and ask yourself how do I actually address the issue to them? It’s always the EQ that matters. You tell them, there is a possibility to overcome this. Then acceptability comes, followed by the impact. When you talk about stopping violence against women, physical abuse, muted abuse, verbal abuse and financial control, you need to break that barrier between the person you’re speaking with for them to open up. Then the counselling happens and you talk to them about the possibilities and bringing about the change. That’s the approach I have used to draw that connection.
What advice would you give to young entrepreneurs, specifically young women who are entering the field?
I always believe that successful leaders envision not becoming stars, but making a constellation. That has been my mantra. I think we should look at building an equally competent ecosystem for women entrepreneurs. We need to collaborate to make it happen.