Each of us have a Laxmi Bai in us!

Jao Rani yaad Rakhengey yeh krutagna Bharatwasi,
yeh tera balidaan jagavega Swatantrata avinasi,
hovey chup itihaas, lagey sachchai ko chahey phansi,
ho madmaati vijay, mitaa dey golon sey chahey Jhansi.
Tera Smarak tu hi hogi, tu khud amit nishaani thi,
Bundeley Harbolon key munh hamney suni kahani thi,
Khoob ladi mardani woh to Jhansi wali Rani thi.

English Translation:

The people of India will remember this debt of yours (O! Rani Laxmibai), may you be blessed, dear Rani,
Your this life sacrifice will awake an indestructible soul of freedom in the people,
History may be made silent or if truth is hanged or killed, or if the drinkers become victorious or if they destroy jhansi with cannonballs,
You, by yourself be the memorial of Rani (queen of Jhansi) because you had been an eternal token of courage.
From the mouths of the Bandelas and the Harbolas (Religious singers of Bandelkhand), we heard the tale of the courage of the Queen of Jhansi relating how gallantly she fought like a man against the British intruders: such was the Queen of Jhansi.

(Read the whole poem with its translation here)

Image courtesy: http://oldpoetry.com//images/ext/Opoem/41/54.jpg

Rani Laxmibai, is one of the bravest Indian woman. I’ve grown up idolizing. I chose this last para of Jhansi Ki Rani Poem, with a reason. No, its not that I want far too many people to martyr their lives in war. I wanted to capture the spirit behind the act of bravery. The immortality Jhansi wali Rani has achieved today.

I have immense respect for all women, Indian in particular. In a society like ours, I think our grand mothers, mothers, mothers-in-law, sisters – all of them deserve to be applauded, as they’ve figured out excellent ways and methods to more than just survive, keep the families together, maintain economies, and much more! In a way, they all seem to have a natural ability to be good managers.

Deep inside my heart I wish for each of us to emerge as Laxmi Bai – fearless, raising above expectations & taking charge to resolving problems & issues. And hence the context to why I have the poem pasted up here!

With all that natural ability to manage, bootstrap, last longer – some of it perhaps hereditary or genetic to the Indian Woman. I think each one of us (Indian women) have the ability to be entrepreneurs. Some opt to lead simple lives, some have other priorities.

For all those who have had the right opportunity, education & more – I think, there is nothing lost by choosing entrepreneurship as a career option. Infact, as a woman (though I personally hated working for someone else) my life as an entrepreneur has given me the flexibility to do things better, organize my time further more & more recently as an entrepreneur-mom (I am confident that this was the right choice) – I get to spend maximum time with my child and experience her grow, and can manage my schedule in a manner that’s best for her! (Of course without compromising on my commitment to my venture)    

In the past two years and some months, as part of The Morpheus – I have interacted with innumerable entrepreneurs and want-to-be entrepreneurs. Among them, I can almost count the number of women entrepreneurs I’ve chanced upon. Its not that they do not exist, perhaps, I’ve not been fortunate to meet too many.

As part of The Morpheus, we want to work with & fund people who leave no tricks untried to bootstrap, innovate, survive, scale & stick-on to succeed. We (I personally) also want to work with women entrepreneurs, as I think they bring a different perspective, are better focused and can make faster decisions. Personally, adding more women to The Morpheus gang will definitely give the much required different perspective to problems / issues / concerns our portfolio faces on a daily basis.

So, if you are a woman (lady or a girl) who has an idea that you’ve been looking to get started with or have ventured out – Perhaps, you should connect with me. We are looking for entrepreneurs, particularly women entrepreneurs, who we can work with as part of our next Batch of BAP & support them with 5 lakh funding. More on that here. 

PS: This post focuses on women entrepreneurs, men are allowed to apply too, we have 27 companies in the portfolio, mostly dominated by men 😛

PPS: No, we treat all gender / sex equal, there are NO reservations 🙂