She is acknowledged by WHO for her immaculate research “Mother’s Touch” – becoming the first and only author in the world to share the research evidence of Indian postnatal care. She’s a nationwide supporter for the wellness community and heeds with the government for better situations. Not just that, big names like Oxford University (UK), Harvard University (USA), and John Hopkins University (USA) have been hosts to her presence.
A rural housewife turned international wellness leader, Dr. Rekha Chaudhari is a concrete example of what becomes when you never give up and never look back – just work hard and passionately.
In a conversation on the wellness industry, the government’s approach, and her views on the wellness industry, here’s GlobalSpa with the Global Wellness Ambassador of India….
1.) Starting off, how did your journey in the wellness industry begin?
From the age of sixteen, I was very interested in the beauty industry. Then when I had my first child thirty-two years back, I was introduced to sand therapy and decided to take up community services where I was offering it. In 2004 is when I actually started working in the industry when I moved to Mumbai. At that time, the industry had just started out in the professional segment and my research “Mothers Touch” got recognized by WHO which is also rooted back to 35 years back. Because my interest was how naturally the mother and baby’s bond grows, I started out with social workers and continued with the wellness industry.
2.) Talking about the current situation, definitely, the wellness and tourism industry has been hit hard. What do you think it’ll take for them to revive?
First of all, I think we need to control our own problems – that’s what the wellness industry teaches. We need to be calm and less stressed going into the situation. Second thing is, though we are able to provide 70 to 80 lacs of employees in this wellness and beauty industry, we are in the lower side of the economy and directly or indirectly, there are 60% of women force in this field so we need to focus on that as well since they are the primary earning source for their families. Our responsibility is that a large scale unemployment situation needs to be urgently brought to the government.
I’m actually working on it. I already had a very successful meeting with Nitin Gadkari regarding loan facility and working capitals, medical facilities, and things around that. We’ve also asked the ESI (Employees’ State Insurance) to pay 70% salary to those under the ESI for a duration of 6 months.
3.) Everyone’s emphasizing on supporting local and small scale industries from now on. What are your thoughts on that?
Yes, because the government has been saying after China the manpower is cheaper in India as compared to any other country and it is anticipated India will come in the highest demand for the future so we should definitely support them today onwards. Of course, this isn’t the only factor. We need to mix together many components for the industry to move ahead like first, we have to have 40% international brands and 60% Indian ones and secondly, we have to improve our standards as per the international standards so we can become the right fit for outside markets.
4.) Which do you think would be the perfect market for Indian brands going forward?
First of all, wellness tourism is still pretty new here but it is picking up slowly where people in India are looking forward to more wellness retreats. That’s one big change I see happening. Ayurveda is pretty big and so is yoga. I can’t specify places but if you see the pharmaceutical and cosmetics line, we have a wide scope in that too. Rest really depends on what kind of cosmetics and brands markets around the world want to approach.
5.) Lastly, any advice for business owners and entrepreneurs?
Yes. We’re all dealing with different problems, some financial, some mental, so I request all entrepreneurs to calm down and become your own wellness practitioner. You should be doing any form of exercise and one important factor is meditation which everyone should be adopting in their lives. Plan your and your family’s well being and work on it everyday. Touch as many souls as you can during this pandemic by encouraging mental stability and health at the same.
Currently Dr. Rekha is working with the UKIERI (UK-India Education and Research Initiative). For more on her journey, visit here: https://dr.rekhachaudhari.com/
