Dr Suhani Mendonsa outlines her journey from being a mehendi artist at the age of 15 to juggling roles as a talk show host, social activist, mentor and guide
Dr. Suhani describes herself as a rebellious, fiercely independent, confident and vibrant person, burning with a passion to do something. Her urge to be independent along with creating an empathetic corner for the needs of others, made Suhani break all norms, at the tender age of 15. It was this wide experience that helped her later in all her roles as a social activist, mentor, and guide.
Suhani’s began working at a very young age and her first means of earning was by being a ‘mehendi’ artist. It was followed by being the ‘first clown’ of Mumbai. She entertained children at birthday parties, hosted shows, worked as a singer and choreographer, gave private tuitions, and did backstage jobs at fashion shows and numerous marketing jobs including market surveys. Her marketing experience included door to door marketing and selling products at petrol pumps, cigarettes to ladies outside clubs, and various products at traffic signals. These early experiences were unknowingly transforming her into the entrepreneur that she is today.
Suhani’s work afforded her the opportunity to interact with various high-profile people, too. While working part-time as a salesperson at a furnishing store, she had the good fortune of serving Kokilaben (wife of Late Dhirubhai Ambani) as her client. Also, working backstage in a fashion show, she had her first stint with glamour and met models like Arjun Rampal and Meher Jessia. It was a phase of invaluable learning.
Suhani’s experience in event management led her to start Yellow Spider Events. The company organises a variety of verticals in event management like weddings, talk shows, corporate events, stage shows, art shows and raising funds for charities through events. The reason behind Suhani’s success as an event conceptualiser at Yellow Spider Events is that every event is equally important to her. For her, everything needs to be perfect. To look after people and manage events comes naturally to her. Today, she covers stage shows and art shows and takes care of the technical as well as the entire coordination part.
As a woman, I feel that in life, there are many challenges and hardships that come our way. Some may say it is a struggle for women, and yes it is true. The core of it is to be positive, to love and respect oneself. Without qualities like optimism and constructive thinking, the brunt of those hardships and struggles is felt even more; and also with the support of your near and dear ones, nothing is out of reach”
Dr Suhani has her own talk show called Tete-a-tete at Suvee’s Power Meet. A unique concept, it showcases people who excel in their own fields, but seldom get the credit that they deserve. With Tete-a-Tete at Suvee’s Power Meet, Suhani’s aim is to create a knowledge sharing platform, provide real-time education with practical proven ideas, and recognize the real-life heroes and their success stories while creating opportunities for like-minded entrepreneurs to come together and explore potential collaborations.
Suhani’s experiences with people, have given her an insight into the way people think and react – enabling her to empower the youth and work as a child counselor. Motivating and counseling parents is another area where her intuitive and rational thinking has helped her.
After 25 years of working in the events business, Suhani has submitted her work credentials to CIAC. Her credentials matched their requirements and she received her honorary doctorate in 2017.
Suhani’s contributions to social causes began at a very young age. She attended meetings at the Hornbill House and listened to lectures by well-known social reformers. She devoted physical hours as well as provided monetary support.
Suhani believes that individually she can support a limited number of people, but collectively she can reach out and help a bigger number of people. She, therefore, urges more people to come up and help.
In her words, “My life has reached a stage where I want to use my energy to do social work and help people. To fulfill my pursuit to provide social support to people, two things are needed – money and hands. The number of people who need help is increasing every minute”. Having a son born with a bilateral cleft lip palate, Suhani not only became aware of the condition but understood the plight of other children with a similar challenge. This led her to work for such children and their families. Further, Suhani’s belief in self-sufficiency and financial independence of women inspires her to work for young girls and women.
Her focus to ease the suffering of migrants, daily wage earners and the underprivileged led her to provide Daily Essentials Kits to them during the early days of COVID-19. In association with Mendonsa Foundation, she and her driver Lalu would do the daily distribution during the lockdown period. The Daily Essentials Kit was created to suffice a family of 4-5 members for a month.
Suhani has been invited at various events across Maharashtra to spread awareness about the use of eco-friendly Ganesha idols and the impact of non-eco-friendly idols on the environment during Ganesh Chaturthi. Her contributions to other social causes includes her role as the project director of Mendonsa Foundation, financially helping and supporting underprivileged families for cleft lip palate surgery of children, as a board member of an NGO, empowering women through skill development to make them independent and self-sufficient to meet all challenges of life, as a board member of the Don Bosco Foundation Society (slums) and Women Build India Foundation, helping families of farmers, who commit suicide, to rebuild their homes. She is also part of the Menstrual Hygiene Society, educating the underprivileged girls about menstruation and hygiene along with providing them free eco-friendly sanitary towel kits.
Suhani is married to her college sweetheart, Dr. Vivek G. Mendonsa and has two lovely sons, Jai and Krish. She plays the roles of both, wife and mother to perfection and the balance between her family and her professional life was always interesting and ever-challenging.
For Suhani, her mother was her greatest inspiration. Till she got married, her mother remained her confidante, friend, anchor, and pillar. Back home from work, she would rush to her mother narrating the tales of her day, tracing out every event in detail. When she met Vivek, he became her inspiration, strength and life-long partner, who motivated and supported her.
Suhani concludes with a message to women who want to make their mark in the world. “As a woman, I feel that in life, there are many challenges and hardships that come our way. Some may say it is a struggle for women, and yes it is true. The core of it is to be positive, to love and respect oneself. Without qualities like optimism and constructive thinking, the brunt of those hardships and struggles is felt even more and also with the support of your near and dear ones, nothing is out of reach”
