News Raised By a Single Parent, This Businesswoman Battled Hardships and a Difficult Childhood to Build her Own Fortune

[Shivam]

Mamta Sharma Das attributes a great deal of her personal achievements to the many obstacles she had to overcome in her childhood. Since her parents belonged to different communities and had a cross-cultural marriage, her family was often at the receiving end of societal prejudices. Mamta herself is no stranger to the ostracisation.

 

[Shivam]

She says, childhood was full of struggles and compromises at every step. “Even when my father was alive, he had no hand in our upbringing due to the family conflicts,” she continues, reflecting, “The social stigma to be raised by a single mother is worse in a country like ours.”

No surprise then that Mamta had to assume responsibilities that were way ahead of her years. Being the eldest of two siblings, she had to fill in for her working mother and take care of her baby brother who is 10 years younger to her.

The hardships and struggles of her younger years are an essential part of her journey. And while they have played a considerable role in shaping her personality, she refuses to let them be the only lens through which she views the world. Despite everything, she insists, she had a fairly happy childhood and a strong and devoted mother in whom she found her “hero and role model”.

 

[Shivam]

At 34, Mamta today juggles between her many roles: motherhood, blogging, digital content creation, and entrepreneurship. She even runs a mini fashion empire on Instagram – where people recognise her by the moniker, The Bohobaalika – serving bucketloads of style inspiration to her 95,000 plus online followers.

This is besides the many collaborations she has forged with a score of brands and the clothing line, Viva la Vida, she launched as a tribute to her ultimate muse, Frida Kahlo, the Mexican painter, who in her life and even after her death continues to be celebrated as a feminist icon worldwide. And who, says Mamta, had a great influence on her life as well.

 

[Shivam]

Today, Frida’s brand of feminism and her art aesthetics form an integral part of Mamta’s sensibilities. Particularly, her fascination with bold and vibrant colours has been shaped by her love for the surrealist artist. But as much as she loves Frida’s style, Mamta also borrows a lot from her own Indian roots, culture, and its riches.

“You can say that my style is a unique mixture of Indo-bohemian rhapsody,” she says explaining that this vision translates for her clothing brand, Viva la Vida, which is influenced by global cultures and its art scenes.

From part-time stints to full-time entrepreneurship

Mamta’s journey in entrepreneurship has been fraught with challenges. She might be running her own business today and commanding a sizeable social media followership, but it wasn’t served on a platter to her. She had to work multiple jobs and pull several part-time stints during her college days to see her dreams come to fruition.

 

[Shivam]

“But I didn’t leave my education or my dreams. And neither did my mom,” says Mamta adding that her mother constantly supported her through all her endeavours. “She recognised my creative abilities at a very young age and put me in classical dance, theatre, and arts to explore myself.”

It was in “painting and visual arts” that Mamta found her solace. Blessed with a quirky style and a unique chemistry with colours, she would eventually go on to apply this aesthetics into her work, starting with her clothing line to the way she has decked up her home in Kolkata in hues of yellow and blue, “imitating the beautiful La Casa Azul, Frida’s home in Mexico.”

 

[Shivam]

Well-versed in the language of social media, she even kickstarted her own campaign with the help of #showyoucare alongside the already trending #handmadeinindia. The goal behind this, as she explains, was to bring awareness and attention to the efforts of the weavers.

Be your own unique self
A woman of many talents, Mamta is a sum collective of her life experiences – but not in a way you would expect. She has taken the best from the worst of circumstances and never let her hardship dictate who she would become.

Perhaps, that is the reason why she wants her daughter to embark on her own, unique journey. And embrace her own, unique self, fearless or not.