But unsupportive husbands and societal pressure to first mind their home left them with no choice but to put aside their dreams.” The conversation set her thinking and a plan took shape, eventually becoming her first venture, ClutchOn in 2009.
Shruti was just out of school when a chance conversation with a few women who worked as domestic help in the area she grew up in, opened up a new direction in her life.
ClutchOn gave underprivileged women, including the ones Shruti had spoken to, the opportunity to make and sell handmade bags.
ClutchOn no longer exists, but all the women who were a part of the venture today work with other tailoring units; one even runs her own business.
Women from the lower socio-economic strata of Indian society, especially in relatively conservative places like Varanasi, had to work doubly hard to achieve anything for themselves.
Shruti Jaiswal grew up in the midst of a loving and close-knit joint family in the temple town of Varanasi.