~ The book is authored and illustrated by celebrated graphic artist Vishwajyoti Ghosh, along with Shrutika Mathur and Nishtha Vadehra. The novel is published by GIZ, Yoda Press and Fortune Print Services.
~It narrates the stories of 20 women from across the country as they leave a mark on India’s entrepreneurial culture through gripping graphics
INVC NEWS
New Delhi ,
GIZ India’s Project Her&Now launched a graphic novel titled ‘WE Mean Business – 20 Women Entrepreneurs, 20 Stories’ in English and its Hindi version- “Mera Business, Meri Kahaani” at New Delhi’s Triveni Kala Sangam today. The novel is an anthology of graphic narratives by and of twenty inspiring businesswomen from across India. The visual retellings convey their protagonists’ diverse life stories and lifeworlds as they choose to narrate them. These are stories of ambitious women defying expectations and claiming space from diverse trajectories in non-metropolitan India.
Project Her&Now has been creating a more enabling environment for women-led businesses in India since 2018. The programme has supported over 900 women entrepreneurs across India’s Tier II and III cities. The women featured in the novel belong to regions like North-East India, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Telangana, and various business sectors and other diverse backgrounds, each illustrated in a unique visual style.
Talking about the graphic book launch, Julia Karst, Head of Project Her&Now, GIZ India, said, ” “This book is a celebration of women entrepreneurs of India. This graphic anthology showcases the unique and diverse realities that women entrepreneurs across business sectors, regions, age and social groups face. We hope that by highlighting the successful stories of relatable role models, this book inspires conversations about the role of women in the economy and encourages many more young women in the country to take up entrepreneurship!”
Speaking about the book launch, the authors, Vishwajyoti Ghosh, Shrutika Mathur, and Nishtha Vadehra said, “This is a book of conversations, with women entrepreneurs who let us into their worlds and journeys. In each of these stories we got distinct visual opportunities to articulate their familiar challenges in unfamiliar terrains, to realise the inspiring possibilities of making things happen, on their own terms.”
The book will be available on Amazon, as well as the local bookstores in India.
About GIZ Her&Now
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is implementing the project ‘Economic Empowerment of Women Entrepreneurs and Start-ups by Women’ on
behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and in partnership with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), the Government of India, to support aspiring and existing women entrepreneurs in India. Since its inception in 2018, the project has created an enabling environment for women-led
enterprises in India. It is working on it through the following touchpoints:
– Incubation and Acceleration support programmes for women entrepreneurs in tier II and tier III cities in the North Eastern Region, Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra. So far, these programmes have supported over 900 women entrepreneurs. In the North East and Rajasthan, the project has facilitated women entrepreneur-led networks like WE Manipur, WEN Nagaland, AWARE in Rajasthan and MeraBizNet in Uttar Pradesh.
– WINcubate, a gender-sensitive entrepreneurship support training, (developed in collaboration with Dhriiti- The Courage Within) equips incubators to adopt women-centric incubation practices. 10 Atal Innovation Mission incubators and 12 Govt. of Gujarat incubators in the country have undertaken this training.
– The Film-and Media Campaign celebrates women entrepreneurs and their contribution to society and the economy. To stir a positive mindset change, the project has produced 4 award-winning short films being screened in over 40 cities in India.
Curated and created by Windchangers, a social and developmental communications collective executing social projects across India. Working with leading organizations and sectors, the collective believes in challenging the status quo and using a multi-disciplinary approach across communication forms
and genres, including visual-based narratives across the spectrum.
Published by GIZ, Co-published by Yoda Press, a leading independent publishing house that has built a stellar list, publishing leading contemporary voices across the Indian Subcontinent. And Fortune Print Services, a leading print solutions-based company in New Delhi.
