Susmita Sinha - Bishnupriya Manipuri Business Woman & Entrepreuner By Shelly Sinha

Susmita Sinha is a Bishnupriya Manipuri Business Woman from Silchar. Susmita, more fondly known as Jhumi, is the daughter of Mr.Gour Kishore Sinha and Mrs.Ratna Sinha. She lives with her uncle but at present Susmita is staying with her grandfather. Susmita is a woman of strong character and resilience. This can be measured in terms of where she has come today in spite of all the impediments in her tumultuous young life. 

Early Life:  Susmita Sinha did her schooling at Manmohan Majumdar Girls High School, Silchar. Her passion for music enabled her to earn double Visharad from Bhatkhande and Bangiya. She completed Higher Secondary from Silchar College. Unfortunately, prior to completing her graduation, Susmita's parents decided to get her married off at a very young age. As fate would have it she had to seek separation from her husband in a few year's time and she came back home and started to live with her uncle. Life was not easy for her since she had to go through a lot being single, again at a very young age. The societal pressure, judgmental eyes made her uncomfortable many times but she didn't give up and planned to start something of her own.

Career: Post coming to Silchar, Susmita worked in the sectors of Real Estate and as a School Educator also. Soon she started working with children with autism and intellectual disabilities. Later on, she tried her hands in business too, whereby she wanted to take up the dealership of a tetra-milk product but had to later give up the idea due to the requirement of huge funds to start the business. Later, she joined the insurance sector and is presently an insurance agent with SBI General Insurance and an Assistant Partner in Kotak Life Insurance. 

The Business of Hidol: COVID-19 took its toll not only on businesses but the insurance sector as well. This is when Susmita's business mind started ticking and came up with this ingenious idea of HIDOL processing and delivering it to Bishnupriya Manipuris living across the country. Coincidently, Susmita came across a woman who was financially challenged but had the skill of making tasty and excellent hidol. Susmita approached the woman with her idea, who was more than willing to give it a go. Susmita wanted her product to be genuine and of good quality and thus, this initiated her search for quality raw material in the form of dried fish from local lakes(bill) and the market. Susmita initially started off with a small quantity on a trial basis. It was important for Susmita to maintain hygiene and under her strict supervision and training, the first lot of HIDOL was produced on 13 Oct 2020. Thereafter, she started supplying her product to the people who ordered it. As Susmita had just started this venture, she gets involved right from buying the raw materials, it's processing, packaging, dealing with the customers till despatching and the delivery of the product to its final destination. Her customers are mainly Bishnupriya Manipuris, Bengalis, and Bengali Muslims. She has been receiving orders from different parts of the country, especially from Bishnupriya Manipuris staying away from home.  She has dispatched packages of Hidol to cities like Bangalore, Delhi, Pune, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad,  Ambala, Jammu, etc, and closer home to places like Guwahati, Shillong, Agartala, Kokrajhar, Karbi Anglong, Nagaon, etc. She has also received orders from Bangladesh too and is exploring the possibility of sending the product there too. In the future, she plans to give her product a traditional and authentic touch by packaging it in 'Bahar Chung (Bamboo Storage Containers)'. She also plans to expand her business in fermented products and packaged food in the future. She has been contacted by a few local dealers who are interested to join hands with her in the supply and distribution of Hidol in different states. A number of women in our community have reached her and shown interest and willingness in participating and assisting Susmita in her new venture. This is probably the beginning of setting the wheel in motion on entrepreneurship in the Bishnupriya Manipuri community.

Feedbacks: Susmita feels encouraged by the positive response she has received from her family, friends, and the community at large. It is her strong determination and will power which will take her a long way in making her venture a grand success. She is a strong businesswoman and a role model for many men and women, who can pave the way for entrepreneurship in our society. Susmita believes in the empowerment of women in our society and dreams that she will one day be able to mobilize the women of our community and be able to provide a livelihood to those in need. 

Message from Susmita to all the readers:

"Jodi kuno jinish ahan arombo korani monaile, manur negative kotha hunia dor napani . Somoi lagtoi kintu nijor chesta, ata-biswas, dedication and patience lo kaam ouhan ageh bariya gelegah kaam ouhan successful oitoi"

****My heartfelt Thanks to Ms. Nelly Sinha & (Retd) Col Mr. Biswajit Sinha who helped me in writing this article*****