Soumita Basu, Founder, Zyenika Inclusive Fashion
Development Practitioner, Writer, and Copyeditor, with over 19 years of experience. Started as a journalist and evolved to specialising in public policy, Action Research, Programme Evaluations and Development Communication.
Podcast
Overview
Today we bring you a guest who is working very hard for a special cause- making clothing more accessible and inclusive for the disabled community, yes you heard that right!
Meet Soumita Basu, Founder, and CEO of Zyenika Inclusive Fashion who makes clothes for disabled people, according to their body types and challenges and we couldn’t be more inspired by her initiative. Soumita shares the key milestones in her life. She has been diagnosed with a regressive disorder herself. The simple task of covering her body became a challenge with the disorder and she thought of other people going through similar issues, hence Zyenika was born.
Zyenika is a Sanskrit word meaning “a female Hawk” whose characteristics are elegance and perseverance. What started as her personal struggle, Soumita is touching the lives of many people and making their lives easier by her venture. She talks to us about why other brands are not incorporating this. Soumita sees clothing as a medium to empower disabled people. Also a writer, she is writing fairy tales with disabled characters in them, she is also an author, and writes blogs.
Soumita educates us on various aspects of disability and opens our eyes to how one can really be inclusive on a community level. She opines why one shouldn’t refer to disabled people as “specially-abled” and call them disabled for people to understand that something is missing and they need to come forward and make space for that person and not the other way around.
Towards the end of the interview, Soumita shares her views on success, inspiration, and failure. She advises young people to not make work their worship and invest in real people instead. Tune in and get inspired!
Profile
Development Practitioner, Writer, and Copyeditor, with over 19 years of experience. Started as a journalist and evolved to specializing in public policy, Action Research, Programme Evaluations, and Development Communication. Theprimaryareasofmyworkhavebeengenderequality, livelihoods, health,
and governance. Also, engaged in copy editing of social science journals and books. Communications Lead,#COVIDActionCollab, CMS India, 2020- presently
Leading the communications strategies for the 300+ partner network, and curating content for spreading the stories from the ground, engaging various stakeholders, and creating awareness in mainstream media and social media. The work is focused on health, livelihoods, and social protection for vulnerable communities with a particular focus on gender sensitivity.
