Selina Ahmed is from the land of deep green forest where rainfall predominates the season, where the tall Bhutanise mountain lay covered with white clouds in the North, where the roaring sound of wild beast hangs the future uncertainties the land witness a little angel, affectionately called by name “Dalia” of Sishubari. This little mystic daughter is fondly loved and cared by the villagers with almost love and care. The “MEM SAHEB” of the little village as she is being called the daughter of “Devniya”. The pretty nested brown haired village daughter would soon be growing into a young athlete running inter-college competitions leaping like a leopard for inter-district competitions at the Kanchenjunga stadium at Siliguri.
Owing to her talkative speech and dynamic nature she took deep interest over field activities on agricultural land. Father noticed these qualities in her and allowed her to carry out business responsibility soon. She would carry the agricultural produce on a bullock cart and was seen in the market selling the produce. Thus, the responsibility of the family was entrusted to her at a very young age. She began to balance her education, sports and family business over a long period of time. These experiences would help and guide to fly high in the sky for ambitious achievements but remain rooted to the earth at all times. While in college paragliding in NCC added adventure to her class.
Testing time began with migration to an entirely new place for her in Maharashtra in 1995 where she came after her marriage. Her husband who was in DOT was posted in Dhule. The place Dhule happens to be a rigid, dusty, dry and a tough climate where you strive for water supply for every four to five days. The vegetables were not fresh and look aghast with little moisture left to survive. In her own words,” These dry vegetables are food for the animals in our village. Even villagers would not like to purchase such hygroscopically poor vegetable choice.” A drastic change, where Selina Ahmed, the grownup “Dalia” took the situation as challenge. With new language, a harsh climate with new dry season, she adapted the changes in her life. From being occupied in her village time paid a tough alarm to her. She was guided by her husband now who said,” Only university degree alone does not suffice but your own acquired skills will let you apply and gain competence in the turbulent situations”.
Her initial dream of opening a school in native North Bengal wayback in 1996 was overruled by helping the woodcraft artisans who needed sustainable income from their craft skills. A generation needs preferably money rather than adult education. She realized the need of the hour and engulfed in selling the wooden furnitures developed and made by the village artisans. This strengthened the handicraft artisans for sustainable employment. The quality furniture’s got a local challenge, as the thick deeply carved teak wood faced a setback to local artisans, but stood as a new choice to newly constructed houses. This way, she inculcated the entrepreneurship within and got satisfaction for doing business by supporting the artisans who would otherwise migrate from village elsewhere for their livelihood.
After her husband got transferred to Nagpur, she began visiting local trades to find out new scope in entrepreneurship. Every evening she would visit the new found interest of tailoring unit in the vicinity to learn the difficulties that would come across in running the establishment. The job of tailor master, the job of tailors and their families some of whom would indulge in catering business to servive opened the new avenues as spark in her dreams. In another few years time in 2008, she also got the experience of entrepreneurship by bringing in rural families from village Nandigram, under Purba Medinipur, West Bengal and generated employment locally in Nagpur where she started a small unit consisting of stitching from tailoring machines.
She has mastered the art of managing the work of stitching and supplying stitched clothes back to the market. The joy of having money from the market infused a new lease of life where she found happiness by helping 30 odd families of Nandigram not only to maintain tailoring unit but also to earn their livelihood through tailoring work. In this journey she employed other needy women to earn by providing tailoring machine and work from home. She felt joyous as she was successful in establishing the unit, rope in the suitable working manpower, got the work demand from the market and work of stitching done in scheduled time, finally to bringing money from market and support families of Nandigram, West Bengal. This unit continued to sustain for few years till Covid-19 enforced and brought at halt the entire established setup when well trained tailors moved back to their villages.
Being a lively dynamic person, she nurtured her two children in classical music from the childhood. She actively participated in foundation day celebrations of BSNL training centre, RTTC Nagpur particularly in songs and drama.
She started a firm Selina Exporters Private Limited, under covid-19 situation wherein, she could generate income from dollars by strengthening export potential of India particularly in agricultural products and stone boulders. She started export of boulders from land port Changrabandha of West Bengal to land port Burimari of Bangladesh under COVID-19 circumstances for demand of 500 MT per month. She generated not only revenue from this export but added employment to various export transporters and associated persons during the tough times in domestic and international market. In the month of January 2021, she applied registration from MSME, FIEO, FSSAI and APEDA to carryout export in the agricultural products from INDIA also. The firm got Indian Achiever’s Award 2021 by IAF Forum for outstanding performance in export during the pandemic situation.
Since last 25 years, she has achieved to reach the goal as a successful women entrepreneur helping the working class artisans and craftsmen, villagers and developing rural economy beyond borders.
She has observed throughout her journey that, “believe on women” for sustaining success, in a given opportunity either in financial sector or employability, has been poor in spite of good policy by the Government. This difficulty, was mitigated and faced by her through her life, by constantly pushing her sincerity and trust on her truthful abilities.
She has also the vision to impact significant growth in employment, balancing socio-economic requirements in the regional areas, where demands meets the supply network strong enough to achieve freedom and happiness in doing small but quality work for the mankind over the period of his / her best committed tenure under the present digital world.
