When Satya Santhi started her business Rangeela in 2014, she began with the goal of empowering women, selling hand-made goods from women in India to people in Yorkton. She celebrated two years in business with an event to celebrate the diversity that exists in India.
Rangeela, which means colourful in Hindi, is founded on the idea of running a business to empower women. Santhi’s policy is to find products that are made by women or businesses owned by women. She saw an opportunity to give women in India a chance to sell their products in Yorkton, and has made it a priority to reach out to women in India when she’s finding products for her store. In January, she also went to visit these women to get a better impression of who makes the products and how supporting their businesses changes their lives.
“I spoke to the women and I understood how we can we can make a difference in their lives... The fabulous women behind these wonderful handicrafts, they’re making money out of it, they’re sending their children to school, they’re able to feed their children very well.”
Santhi is the only paid employee in the store, and uses this to keep prices reasonable, so the majority of the money spent by her customers goes to the women making products in India.
“I want people in Yorkton to know that when they’re buying a product from Rangeela they’re supporting women in India.”
The local event, celebrating the diversity of Santhi’s home country, was about celebrating India itself and the diversity that it represents, through the fashion and the food served.
“People ask me about the diversity of India, and I can only say one thing when it comes to cooking. Both parts of India use the same ingredients, but have completely different recipes.”
The decision to showcase diversity and the dedication to empowering women came together in the fashion show itself. Santhi went out of her way to have models representing different ages and different body types as part of the show, both to show how the fashion suits anyone and to avoid presenting any kind of ‘ideal’ body type.
Fifty per cent of the profits from the event went to Paws and Claws Animal Rescue. She says she didn’t want to make a profit from the event, but to instead celebrate with everyone in the community.
“Whenever I do these kinds of viewings, half of the profits will go to them, this is the promise I have made to myself.”
