Power women walk the charity talk

It appears to be women's day out at the new Leela Kempinski in New Delhi's diplomatic enclave, Chanakyapuri. Car after car deposits smartly dressed women on the five-star hotel's porch. Expensive perfume wafts through the air.

Inside, the ballroom of the hotel has been transformed into a very upmarket Arabian Nights like bazaar with shimmering clothes, jewellery, bags and shoes on display. The Capital's affluent set can be seen splurging away, oohing and aahing over Bina Goenka's designer jewellery or Mira Sagar's exquisite range of sarees in richly textured weaves.

Spotted are many of the Capital's well-known socialites and jet-setting women, including Sara Pilot, Ramola Bachchan and Sheetal Ansal.

It's the preview time of Design One, a shopping extravaganza of summer fashions that features a combination of experienced and budding designers. The high-profile event has been brought to the Capital by a band of eleven enterprising women from Mumbai.

“Do you think, in the evening, we will get as good a turnout?” you can hear one of the organisers nervously asking another.

As the wives of business magnates, they could have chosen to live the lives of gilded butterflies with the token gestures of charity. But Minakshi Bajaj, Madhu Ruia, Sheela Bhogilal, Lakshmi Nair, Nilima Kilachand, Brinda Khatau, Parul Choksey, Mala Goenka, Pallavi Kanoria, Daksha Mehta and Gauri Pohoomul have chosen the hard route — experimenting with a model that combines entrepreneurship with philanthropy.

Together they have set up a foundation that benefits the less privileged. Called Sahachari — or women walking together — they live up to the foundation's name, working in tandem to organise fund-raising exhibitions, arts and cultural shows. “We did not want to simply raise funds through donations. It is so easy to write a cheque, but we wanted to add an element of culture and entrepreneurship,” says Lakshmi Nair.

They came together about 10-12 years ago and, as they say, bring different strengths and capabilities on board.

While they do several high-profile shows, Sahachari's flagship event is Design One, which made its debut in 2009. It has a rigorous selection process. For instance, for this September's edition in Mumbai, the process of filtering exhibitors began last December itself. “It is going to be a big event with 80 participants and 8,000 to 10,000 people expected to visit. We are very conscious that we should not put up overpriced stuff and, at the same time, give space to those working on reviving textiles as well as offer a variety to those attending,” says Minakshi.

The women are proud that several budding designers who debuted their creations at Design One events have made it big in the fashion world. “Ruh, for instance, started with us so did Vidhi Singhania (the designer who works with Kotah weaves) and Malini Agarwal, and they are all in Lakme Fashion Week now. It's a kick to see how they have grown with you,” says Minakshi, smilingly.

They are equally proud that Design One has gone international as well. “We took the event to Singapore,” says Nilima.

And, do they get help from their husbands' outfits? “We don't have much back-office help and are totally hands-on,” says Nilima. Though, of course, the family business foundations and enterprises are all roped in to lend support — Lakshmi Nair, for instance, gets her husband Vivek Nair's Leela chain of hotels as exhibition venues. Madhu Ruia's husband, Ravi Ruia's, company Essar chips in with sponsorships as do some of the other businesses.

Proceeds from Design One go each year to a deserving NGO. It's the Victoria Memorial School for the Blind this year as well as the Bombay Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BSPCA).

“Every year we take up a cause and raise funds to donate to it,” says Parul, adding that they also monitor the use of the funds. “Many of us are independently on the boards of the organisations we help out, so it is easy to track it. For instance, Gauri is with Apne Aap Women's Collective and Sheela is with BSPCA,” she says.

“For us, it is not about us, but about the causes,” concludes Nilima.

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