WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
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“ born in Mumbai in 1976 Dviti had completed her graduation from Mumbai University in 1997. She is a creative artist and Bharatnatyam dancer. She started her career in sales and marketing, married early, separated, but that did not dilute her confidence and she persevered with her journey. Today she runs a successful business.
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By Rajesh Ghadge
NAVIGATING THROUGH TOUGH TIMES Dviti Bhalla was born in M u m b a i i n 1 9 76 a n d completed her graduation from Mumbai University in 1997. Dviti is a creative artist and Bharatnatyam dancer. She started her career in sales and marketing, married early, separated and sadly had to stay away from her children for almost 6 years, but that did not dilute her confidence and she persevered with her journey. Today she runs a successful business. “I was married early, when I was hardly 19, and I continued my graduation when I was already married,” she said adding that due to some adverse circumstances she separated from her husband in 2005. “It was an abusive relationship and I could not continue to live with it. I was forced to stay away from my kids for 6 years. My real struggle started after the separation in 2005 when I was left all alone without any support.” “Slowly and steadily I started 28 / INCREDIBLE GOA / JUNE 2022
getting accustomed to my new life and with the help of one of my friends, I got the chance to work with a reality show in Mumbai,” she said adding that first opportunity she received was from Sanjiv Kapoor's Food Food reality show. “I was working as an executive producer for the reality shows. I worked for almost a decade in this industry and during this time I did Indian Idol, Masterchef India and Ex Factor India shows.” She worked there for almost a decade but owing to illhealth, she decided to leave. “I was opertated and decided to leave the shows and during that time my son was doing his masters in Prague and I had to visit him there,” she said adding that it was this time when she decided to stop working and start something of her own. “I always wanted to start my own venture right from the beginning but never got the opportunity or suitable environment.”
Dviti got married once again when she met her soulmate in 2008 while working on the sets of a reality show. “I was the executive producer and he was a photographer. When I decided to start my own business, my husband and kids supported me wholeheartedly in my plans,” she said. After she decided she wanted to do something of her own there was no looking back. “I started soap-making in 2017 and we shifted to Goa.” There is very interesting story behind Dviti shifting to Goa in 2019. “Goa was always on our bucket list as my husband is from Chandigarh and I belong to Gujarat, but we both needed to live in a warm tropical climate.” “The soap making venture started due to a push from my aunt who was into the same business and when I quit my job in 2017, I was doing nothing although I had a plan of starting something of my own. My friends and family helped me
in my journey and my aunt's push made me go for it.” Starting a new venture and running it successfully are two different things. “For almost one year I was struggling. I used to make small quantities and sell them and then make a new stock and this continued for some time. During that time my unit was also in Mumbai and I had to do lot of up and down travelling. I had also faced loses during that time but I did not give up and persevered.”. Soon Dviti decided to plough on ahead and she started a company called Nature's Point with the brand name of Merak Naturals. “Under the Merak Naturals brand we manufacturer soaps, shower gels and body wash,” informing us that this different from the soaps that is available off the shelf. “We have different processes and formulations that makes this soap different from the ones available on the market. We use glycerin extracts in the www.incrediblegoa.org
