Celebrating Indian Vegan Women: Seven Journeys of Persistence

8 March 2021

This International Women’s Day, we are celebrating Indian women who set up successful vegan endeavors all alone to make this world a kinder place. They all faced struggles and obstacles, but the warrior spirit of each, as well as a dedication towards their compassionate goals proved them triumphant.

Get a glimpse into their journeys - how they started out and overcame challenges to lead the vegan movement in India!

1. Dr. Nandita Shah: The Story of Resilience

One of the leading award-winning plant-based doctors in the country, Dr. Nandita Shah is a pioneer in the field of plant-based health and nutrition in India. She is the author of the book Reversing Diabetes in 21 Days published by Penguin India, and founded SHARAN (Sanctuary for Health and Reconnection to Animals and Nature) in 2005. Dr. Nandita was honoured with the Nari Shakti Award by President Pranab Mukherjee in 2016.

Dr. Nandita grew up as a vegetarian and turned vegan in 1985 after learning about the horrific truths of the dairy industry. This completely changed her outlook on life as she realized the need for compassionate and sustainable living. In 2005, she took it upon herself to spread this knowledge in India.

But the journey was not without difficulties. When she tried to share her realizations with others, hoping that people would readily adopt a lifestyle better for their health, the environment and animals, she was met with disappointment.

“When I put up posters of animal cruelty, people avoided looking at them,” she said. She soon noticed that people were interested in the idea when they curiously attended her talks, but since there were limited means, making a change was tough.

Dr. Nandita began serving food in all her seminars to deal with this obstacle. Her experience as a successful doctor and teacher eventually culminated in the establishment of SHARAN, an effort to promote plant-based holistic health which has helped about one lakh people.

Dr. Nandita has played a key role in creating this movement in India. SHARAN now conducts disease reversal seminars and cooking classes, and has clients from all over the world adopting a plant-based lifestyle for a better life.

2. Using Setbacks As Fuel: Taanya Ravi

The founder of Live Yum Foods and a devoted animal rights activist, Tanya used to work as an undercover investigator filming animal cruelty in factory farms. After she suffered an accident, she took another path to carry forward veganism, and created Live Yum. The brand started as and allergen-free vegan cheeses, and now also offers a palm oil-free vegan ghee. 

Even though Taanya had support and seed funding, in the very beginning, an expert told her - “You will never make it.” Discouraged, she doubted herself, but her compassion for animals kept her going. 

There were also many instances where she struggled as a young businesswoman in a space dominated by men, but her setbacks gave her strength. Having been a national badminton champion, she took the challenges with an athletic mindset and worked even harder.

"We are all smarter and stronger than we know, and challenges can help reveal that," she says.

Her compassion pushed her forward, as well as the kindness and support of the people around her. Today, she thanks her customers for turning her dream into reality, and appreciates every new order and social media notification she receives.

3. Ms. Sonal: Taking The Leap With White Cub

Sonal, the founder of White Cub, is an award-winning entrepreneur who is a pioneer in bringing dairy-free ice creams to India. She is also the founder of STEAM, an animal welfare NGO, but later decided to take a different approach to make veganism more accessible.

When Sonal established White Cub in 2012, there was no market for dairy-free ice creams in the country. Moreover, she faced specific challenges that come with being a woman in a room full of men, or walking narrow streets in the market in search of the perfect raw materials. 

She nevertheless kept going with the belief that her struggles will carve an easier path for the women to come. Her motivation was clear - she wanted to help veganism grow in whatever capacity she could.

“I’ve been born to serve animals in this form, to ease out access to more and more dairy alternatives.”

White Cub began with a single product, and is now one of the leading dairy-free ice cream brands in India with over 20 flavours. Available through parlours, retail and e-commerce platforms in multiple states, the brand has won the PETA Vegan Food Awards over two consecutive years. 

Sonal shares her knowledge that comes with experience as an entrepreneur, saying:

4. Roshni Sanghvi: A Story of Excellence and Determination

A vegan fitness expert, Roshni has guided more than twelve thousand clients across the world through fitness transformations and disease reversals, including thyroid, PCOS and diabetes. With more than a decade of experience in the field, she is an ACE certified fitness trainer and sports nutritionist with a Master’s in clinical psychology.

Roshni's issues with body image led her to pursue this field, and she took a scientific approach to meet her fitness goals. Amidst this process, she realized the importance of plant-based nutrition and certified herself in the same.

Starting out alone, she received a lot of backlash in the industry due to the myths attached to whole foods plant-based diets. She lost a lot of potential clients, but this did not sway her decision as she only wanted to offer what was best for people’s health. 

“I wouldn’t put anything on your plate that I wouldn’t myself eat,” she believes. “This was a huge standpoint I took very early on.”

She strongly believes in being transparent with the people she helps, and always provides scientific evidence to her advice. Today, she gets clients from all over the world seeking her help.

Advising aspiring vegan businesswomen, she says:

5. Subah Jain: A Journey of Rediscovering Healing

The founder of one of the most popular wellness YouTube channels in India, Satvic Movement, Subah has been a positive and influential woman for the plant-based movement in India. A Living Light culinary institute graduate, Subah has authored a recipe book called Satvic Food and is certified in Mastery and Gourmet Raw Vegan Cuisine.

Satvic Movement was her vision to educate people about reversing diseases with a healthy plant-based lifestyle. Subah was attracted to plant-based and holistic health after suffering from lifestyle diseases like PCOS and hypothyroidism. She grew up in a vegetarian household but her encounter with a Guru made her understand the importance of healing the natural way.

After seeing a tremendous improvement, she decided to dedicate her life helping others with the knowledge she had discovered. Through this, Satvic Movement was born and has helped people reverse diseases like diabetes, skin problems, PCOS, thyroid and a number of other issues.

Satvic Movement now has more than two million subscribers and shares educational videos on health and food, as well as plant-based recipes to allow people to heal and connect to themselves and the earth.

6. From Bollywood to Restaurateur: Sadaa Sayed’s Journey Into Vegan Food

An actor and activist, Sadaa had always been passionate about animals, and wished to contribute towards a positive change in the community. The Earthings Cafe in Mumbai was born out of this desire, and Sadaa defied all odds to make it a refuge for vegans.

Sadaa entered the field with no experience in the restaurant industry. She built the cafe from the ground up with limited funds, cooked herself until she could hire a staff, and made Earthlings cafe what it is today.

The menu offers diverse cuisines, as Sadaa wished to debunk the myth of vegan food not being tasty.

“I didn’t want to exclude 'junk vegan' food because many people think vegan food is just ghaas-phoos…I wanted to give them the same kind of fast food options they would get elsewhere,” she says. 

Even though she had given her life and soul to the cafe, Sadaa didn’t forget her true purpose, which was caring for animals. Even today, she rescues animals, and spends a few hours everyday feeding the strays in her whole neighborhood.

7. Anushi Patel: A CHeese Lover's Vegan Journey

Anushi Patel, the founder of Soft Spot, combined her passion for the environment and food and created one of India’s most popular vegan cheeses.

Anushi’s love for cheese motivated her to come up with the perfect recipe for a variety of plant-based cheeses, including . She spent 15 months travelling to explore different cheese, and after immense research and trials, she finally established Soft Spot in Mumbai.

Today, Soft Spot has become a renowned name among vegans, is available in about 40 retail stores domestically. The brand won the 2019 Vegan Dining Award by PETA India. It offers carefully curated vegan cheeses in different flavours, and has also teamed up with certain restaurants including PizzaExpress India and Roadhouse Cafe.

The growth of veganism in India would not be possible without strong women who persevered through struggles and have managed to become successful today, and vegans all over the country are grateful for their efforts!