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This article was published in partnership with LICHFL.
After the Partition of India, Sarla Ahuja migrated from Sindh (Pakistan) to Rajasthan. Married at the age of 16, she recalls that she hated the monotony of household chores.
Sarla, who had only studied till Class 10, had one skillset she could rely on — the lessons from her mother on stitching. So in 1974, at the age of 18, she decided to build on her entrepreneurial spark and launched an apparel manufacturing business with just Rs 5,000. That company today is Shahi Exports, which today is among the nation’s largest apparel manufacturing businesses, and clocks an annual revenue of Rs 8,000. Her company works with large retailers across the world, from Nike to Walmart, H&M and Zara,…