Interview With a Journalist

Vibha Harish suffered from PCOD as a teen. But rather than a complaint about it, she used it as a learning experience to start her own company of herbal cosmetics

Vibha was a teenager when she started suffering from severe PCOD. This resulted in severe hair fall and acne as well as irregular periods. She visited many doctors and underwent many treatments. But nothing worked.

Worried about her daughter's health, her mother started mixing ayurvedic powders like Ashwagandha and Shatavari in her food. Within a few months, Vibha could feel the difference in her health.

Over a period of time, her hair-fall reduced, and periods regularised. This experience left Vibha impressed with the power of herbal products and Ayurveda.

As ayurvedic medicines helped her cure her condition, she thought of formulating ayurvedic products and selling them.

Driven by her thought of starting something of her own, Vibha left her corporate job. This was her first step to success.

The next step was getting to know the field in depth.

So she started interacting with herbal practitioners from different parts of the world. From the USA to Singapore, she spoke with everyone and gained tremendous knowledge about this field.

Along with that, she took guidance from her mother.

Vibha was so determined that she took a course on Herbalism too. Then she visited different farms in Karnataka to formulate her own herbal products.

With sufficient knowledge and information, Vibha Harish launched her own herbal nutrition and plant-based supplement company. She called it Cosmix.

The main goal of Cosmix was to make products to improve health and immunity in women.

Within one year, Cosmix registered a turnover of around Rs 2 crore!

Just when it seemed that everything was going well, the Covid Pandemic hit.

During this Pandemic, Vibha's business came to hold. Due to the safety reasons of her employees, she gave her business a short break.

But she did not stop her work during that period. She noticed that children between three to six years of age are not getting proper nutrition.

"Earlier, these children, living in rural areas of Karnataka, were part of mid-day meal schemes which ensured daily nutrition. However, once schools were shut, they were unable to eat nutritious food. Some of them were even malnourished," she said.

That's when Vibha decided to start the programme - Nutrition for All. Through this programme, food and energy bars are given to malnourished children in rural India.

Last checked, around 2,50,000 bars were distributed to 1400 children. Vibha used part of the company's profits to fund the "Nutrition for All" programme

Vibha's ambition and her desire to do something different is really an inspiration to girls today.

Just like Vibha, there are also so many young girls who are thinking out of the box and doing different things.

Mehrunnisha Shaukat Ali dreamt of becoming a police officer -- to keep people safe. Her father did not allow it. But protecting people was Mehrunnisha's calling. Today, she is living her dream -- but just a little differently.

30 year old Mehrunnisha Shaukat Ali works as a bouncer in Delhi. She also holds a Master's degree in Hindi literature.

Her regular gymming routine and karate training helped her get a job as a bouncer. Today, she works at one of Delhi's most popular restaurants and nightclubs -- Hauz Khas Social.

Her younger sister, 27-year-old Tarannum, also works as a bouncer. Today, together, they earn enough to take care of their family of 8 people.

Both sisters are proud of what they do and take all possible efforts to be the best at their job. The sisters do not take their jobs lightly and spend an hour in the gym daily, working during holidays if necessary.

"I am very proud of what I do; it's not an easy job," Mehrunnisha once said. "Taking care of people, especially women in a club, is a huge responsibility."

While Mehrunnisha may be India's first female bouncer, she wanted to be in the Indian army or become a police officer. But her orthodox father didn't support her dream.

In fact, her family was so conservative that they did not want her to study beyond the 5th standard. It was only because of her mother that she was sent to school.

With this background, it seemed like there was no chance that Mehrunnisha would ever become a working girl. Becoming a police officer or a bouncer seemed next to impossible.

But Mehrunnisha was determined. So Mehrunnisha secretly joined NCC (National Cadet Corps).

After successful completion of her course and training, she brought her uniform home. But her angry father burnt it on the stove at home.

And that may have been the end of her dreams. But both Mehrunnisha and destiny had other plans....

Mehrunnisha's father suffered losses in the stock market. Mehrunissha decided to help her family and take up a job to support them. She was initially the only breadwinner of the family.

She then realised that she could still pursue her dream of 'protecting people' partially, if not entirely. So she got a job as a bouncer at a Social, a famous restaurant cum nightclub in Delhi, to become the first female bouncer of India .

During the ten years as a bouncer, she also did freelance security work for various events such as the IPL matches, reality show auditions, film promotions, corporate launches etc.

She also worked for many celebrities, including Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chopra, Vidya Balan and Deepika Padukone, during events in Delhi.

Today Mehrunnisha is everything that she was told she could not be. She is the breadwinner in her family. The most extensive support of her parents. Looks after her sisters and younger brother. Whenever people come to know that she is a bouncer, there is a look of respect on their faces.

Mehrunnisha is an inspiration for any girl who wants to do something different. And do it with pride. As Mehrunnisha once said, "(Today) my mother and father have faith and confidence in me, and I know I am not doing anything wrong."