An enthralling journey of a ‘Daughter of a Lioness’; Indrani Tapati speaks with Dr. Himabrata Das

August 15: Silchar-born Indrani Tapati is a shining light in the world of entrepreneurship and start-ups. Spanning the diverse spheres of real estate, martial arts and craft and design via her serial innovative ventures, Indrani has cemented herself as one of the foremost women achievers from the Valley in the world of business. In this motivating conversation with way2barak, Indrani talks about a range of issues including the ambitious projects that she has been able to launch in the recent past. An alumnus of Hiron Prova Deb Sishu Mandir and Ramanuj Gupta Junior College, Indrani Tapati is taking by storm the world of entrepreneurship. So fasten your seat belt for unraveling this amazing journey of life with Dr. Himabrata Das.

H.D. How did the idea behind Unikraft occur to you?

I.T. I used to work in a real estate marketing company. There one of my colleagues, who became a good friend Sneha Sharma, used to make some jewelries and other handcrafted stuff. Her works are excellent. As I had learnt stitching and cloth designing too, we both thought of starting a venture online where we will provide some quality handcrafted products at reasonable price to the people. The idea initiated in the year 2018 but due to our individual work pressure we did this on part time basis. But this lockdown became fortunate for us and we geared this up again and started working on a larger scale. We have plans to recruit some talented needy people whom we can give a good earning opportunity. We see Unikraft Creations in a different level. Hope the things go alright. We deal in jewelleries, customised gifts, bottle arts, planters, wall arts, organic cakes, chocolates, embroidered items, shopping bags (all handcrafted) etc.

H.D. How have you adapted your brand to remain competitive during the pandemic?

I.T.  I am running 3 ventures currently- my Martial Arts Gym Dastbi MMA, is the prime venture which has got highly affected during the lockdown and we got a huge hit for this situation. The question came to our survival, but we didn’t give up. By God’s grace, Dastbi has a good reputation so when we started our online classes people joined in from different places. We didn’t mourn for our condition rather we worked on different aspects, so actively restarted our Real Estate Marketing Company, which is IADS Realtors (Real Estate Marketing Company) in partnership and got a very good response from the market. And also Unikraft Creations which has got lots of love from the customers.

H.D. Tell us a little about your pursuit of martial arts. How important do you feel self-defence is for youngsters?

I.T.  Martial Arts is a factor that became the reason of my life. It has shown me the real goal of my life. I joined martial arts just to learn self defense but ended up making it my profession. My mother wanted me to learn martial arts as I was very rebellious and for my safety it was very necessary. When I joined martial arts, I was the only girl in the class. I used to practice with boys and I feel very lucky to get Angkim Kashyap Sharma as my Coach. I have seen many coaches but he is the best and has a very great impact on my life. He never discriminated me, which helped me excel in this field.

I got shifted to Kolkata with my family permanently in January 2017, and got a job in one of the best real estate companies but I had to travel 70 kms to and fro everyday and so almost 5 hours I had to spend traveling. I waited for 3 months, but still got no source to manage time for my dream and martial arts, I came back to Guwahati in May, 2017 to pursue my dream and joined the old office where I used to work before leaving Guwahati. Then on 1st August 2017, I partnered with my coach and reformed our old institute and named it Dastbi MMA. Our first branch started operating from that day. My coach used to work in Yes Bank Shillong, and it became difficult for him to continue his martial arts journey there, so he left his well paid job to devote his full time in Dastbi and Martial Arts. Then we opened our 2nd branch in Beltola and after few months, I also left my job.. And now happily working for my dreams.

Self defense is important in all ages, not only youngsters, in this cruel world we everyday hear news of rapes, child abuse, molestation, murders, burglary, mob lynching, street fighting and so on. So self defense in this case is very necessary for all. And there’s a common misconception that if anyone learns a particular martial arts, he or she knows the self defense, which is partially correct, he or she might know few techniques but self defense needs some particular techniques, which can be applied in real life situations.

In martial arts tournament, there are some particular rules set, but in real life, there’s no such rules. So we need to be very specific while choosing a art for self defense. Close quarter combats are systems which teaches practical application, also few moves from few martial arts can also help. We at Dastbi MMA take self-defense to a new levels and teach every individual by elaborating the knowledge they already have. Well can’t share everything here, so if u want to know then get in touch with Dastbi MMA.

H.D. What led you to start your own gym? Do you feel that today’s youth is much more conscious about fitness compared to the older generations?

I.T.  I have mentioned my journey how we started Dastbi. Now I would like to answer why we started. It was because we wanted to bring a change in the society. I have seen and have been through many problems when I was looking for a martial arts coach. I have trained under different coaches when my coach was not available in Guwahati but I never got proper training, there was something missing. I knew that Coach Angkim Kashyap Sharma has something very different to offer to the society. Once a student takes training from him, they get adhered to him. So we wanted to change the scenario of martial arts in North East. Also people have commercialised the martial arts Academy so much that many people don’t get what they are looking for. So we look after them individually. We also have a Fighting Platform Named Versus Championship where the fighters from India and abroad have taken part. We have introduced this platform to give justice to the Indian Fighters, who often fall prey to nepotism, politics and commercialisation.

To respond to the second part of your question, I’d say Not Really. Earlier people were aware of their physical and mental health, they used to do at least some kind of physical activities, but today the majority of the youth are involved in their smartphone and electronic gadgets, they rarely get involved in physical activities. Parents can also be blamed here as they handover their child a phone just to keep them silent and seated in one place, which is not at all appreciated.

The new generation need to go out, get involved in multiple physical activities, which inturn will increase their creativity. And martial arts helps a lot here as it teaches the discipline, mannerism, self control etc. And one more thing I want to mention here, I have witnessed that today’s youth is more into alcohol, drug, smoking etc, as their parents cannot give enough time to them and they fall victim of their peer pressure, which is a big issue in every second family in the society, so I would like to request all the parents or guardians to involve the kids in any kind of sport activities which will refrain them from getting addicted to such harmful habits and please take out some time for the kids, it is much needed when they are in their adolescent stage.

H.D. Who were your idols and inspirations growing up? The ones who have influenced you

I.T.  I always look up to the successful people out there. But my first inspiration was my mother Tapati Chakrabarty. She always inspires me and today whatever I am doing is just to make her feel Proud. My Life’s prime goal is to make her happy and proud. I proudly say that I am a daughter of a lioness. She has suffered a lot but raised us with so much of confidence and values that nothing can beat our motivation. So I have changed my surname with her name, now I am known as Indrani Tapati.

I always wanted to become like my 2nd elder sister, she is the backbone of our family, her works can never be compared with anything or anyone, my sisters and brother have taught me how to beat the real challenges of life, and have made many sacrifices for me. And also my Coach Angkim Kashyap Sharma, his talent and dedication is incredible, I will strive to become like him and I will try my level best to make his dream successful.

H.D. How do you feel about the fact that more and more young women are becoming entrepreneurs? What advantage do you believe women have in business?

I.T.  It’s truly encouraging when I see more and more women are becoming entrepreneurs it really feels good to see the change, it’s all about equality. Women now are taking their duties seriously. Earlier the home chores and responsibilities were thrown to them and they couldn’t realise their ability still there were many bold women who broke the stereotypes and those examples are now being adapted and the society is changing. I never felt any discrimination in my family, so I don’t see it in the society. Women are no less than men. There is no field of comparison. Advantages that a women get in business is some schemes introduced by the government (what I feel) rather than that I feel no difference, as being an female entrepreneur, I never got any advantages. But people do encourage my work.

H.D. And finally,your words of advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.

I.T. It’s very hard for the person who choose to become someone different, our society has a common phenomenon that the kids will grow up, study, get a well settled job and marry and again their kids will do the same. But some people are there who wants their life to be different, entrepreneurs fall in this segment, the journey is very tough but if we have once decided to do we will do. It’s better to give a try and fail rather to repent why didn’t I give it a try and Remember ‘Failure is the Pillar of Success’. Until you fail, you don’t know where to change, you fall, get up and start again, you will definitely get there with pride. Today there must be many mouth that are mocking you, but one day those mocks will turn into praise.

Also Read: A candid interaction with Sahitya Pension awardee Samarbijoy Chakraborty

**Dr. Himabrata Das, Registrar, Department of Psychiatry, Tezpur Medical College & Hospital (TMCH). Apart from this, he is a vivid lover of sports, an eloquent commentator and a columnist.