Chhaya Gandhi, a successful entrepreneur, president of MSME & Startups forum in Karnataka, and many more

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The remarkable success story of a Woman Entrepreneur

When Chhaya Gandhi moved to Bangalore in the year 1983, she did not imagine the amazing future waiting for her. She has had an incredible journey so far from starting a small copper wire business to becoming the president of MSME & Startups Forum – Bharat for Karnataka. It all started with a discussion with her beloved husband Chetan Gandhi one day that changed the rest of her life. Her husband encouraged her to start her own business aware of the potential she had and has been a powerful motivator throughout her life.

Chhaya Gandhi founded the company Kruti Sales Corporation which is involved in the sales of copper wires, in the year 1985 and has since enjoyed sensational business growth over the years. She credits her dedication to work hard, sleep late and wake up early as one of the major factors that led to her success.

Chhaya Gandhi grew up in a small town called Talaja, Gujarat, the daughter of Harshadbhai Trivedi, a prominent lawyer in the town, and the entire family were involved in practicing law. She was greatly inspired by the sheer excellence of her father looking at his dedication and commitment to law her own life which made her pursue the degree eventually. When she was in college studying law, there came a situation where her father brought her the perfect marriage proposal. So Chhaya Gandhi made the decision to marry and then moved to Bangalore.

Ever since her marriage, she made several attempts to finish the law degree but the Kannada language was a hurdle for her, and Chhaya Gandhi had to dedicate her time to running the family and raising children which were the most important duties for her at that time. Only after the birth of her second child, her husband changed the course of her life during a discussion, one of the life-changing discussions in her life. Looking at his beloved wife spending most of her time at home, Chetan Gandhi wanted her to get into the world of opportunities and make use of the talents she had. Even though Chhaya Gandhi thought of a few jobs like teaching, her husband knew the leadership qualities she possessed and after extensive conversations, the couple decided to start a copper wire business and called it Kruti Sales Corporation.

Started the business only in a size of a small room, Kruti sales Corporation witnessed exponential growth over the years and still continuing its robust momentum today owing to its client satisfaction, timely delivery, friendly approach to the clients, word-of-mouth referrals, and more. Abb, Bosch, Trident Hyundai, Miracle, and many more are some of the esteemed clients of Kruti sales corporation. The company is currently based in the industrial area of Peenya, Bangalore.

Involvement in social welfare organizations

The demand for her leadership elevated over the years, Chhaya Gandhi is a convener of South India Vaishya Bharati News Bulletins & a chief patron member, a woman Entrepreneur at KAASSIA (Karnataka Small Scale industry Association) while also serving as a member, served as president of Inner Wheel Club of Bangalore during the year 2005-2006 successfully completing more than 300 social welfare projects, a committee member of International Vaishya Federation,  a member of Brahm Samaj Mahila Mandal & Bhagini Samaj and finally she is the president of MSME & Startups Forum – Bharat, Karnataka state chapter.

She has a compassionate heart with a remarkable quality to help the needy, Chhaya Gandhi has been assisting senior citizens in improving their quality of life and helping children in getting a quality education. Moreover, she has been instrumental in providing medicines to numerous children which greatly aided in curing their diseases, and Mrs. Gandhi is also engaged in the development of small villages.

A woman of many talents

During her childhood, Chhaya Gandhi learned singing from her beloved mother Urmila Ben Trivedi who was an excellent singer and has since developed a great passion for the art. She has lent her voice to many Gujarati, Hindi, and Kannada songs while singing with one of the best singers in the country such as Suresh Wadekar, Sonu Nigam, and more. She was awarded as the best singer by renowned music director, Gurukiran. Chhaya Gandhi started her own music academy called Sargam Music Academy based in Bangalore in the year 2012, she takes classes at her house. She is an active member of 'Jhankar', a well-known cultural group. Chhaya Gandhi has been a judge for numerous singing, dancing, and cooking competitions in ISKCON, Mahila Mandal of Bangalore, and more. She is a founding member of Gujarati Mitra Mandal where she has organized the Navratri Dance Festival for 27 years.

Apart from her passion for singing and cooking, Chhaya Gandhi is also a yoga instructor and has associated with Samyama Yoga Mahavidyalaya based in Basaweshawar Nagar, Bangalore, and Samyama Gurukula headquartered in Nagarbhavi, Bangalore. Also an occasional writer, Chhaya Gandhi has written various articles for Rajasthan Patrika, Shubh Labh, and Vaishya Bharati in mostly politics and music.

The Kala Ratna award from Max Life Insurance, the Purandhara Dasa award, and the Proud Indian award at Aazadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav celebration in Bangalore from actor Jayaprada are some of the awards conferred to Chhaya Gandhi. Tally Solutions, a software company based in Bangalore, and Jain Social Ladies Group have also honoured her for the achievements as a woman entrepreneur.

Chhaya Gandhi is part of the Guinness world record for directing a program called Kannada naada Geethegalu as a Non-Kannadiga for an event at Vivekananda Institute of Yoga on the International Day of Yoga. The event was a great success and Chhaya Gandhi was showered with appreciation while many called her the pride of Karnataka.  

During an interview conducted by Icons of Indian Business with Chhaya Gandhi, she mentioned with immense pride that D.V. Sadananda Gowda who served as the 20^th Chief Minister of Karnataka, regarded her as the ‘mammaglu of Gandhiji’ which means Gandhiji’s grand daughter, for her contribution to the promotion of Yoga along with many of her achievements, on the occasion of International day for Yoga in Vidhan Soudha.

Plans for the future

As the president of MSME & Startups Forum, Karnataka State Chapter, reaching out to the micro, small & medium enterprises in Karnataka and helping people in starting their businesses in various districts of the state while also aiding them in the development of their organizations is the major intention of Chhaya Gandhi in the coming years.

As a member of FKCCI (Federation of Karnataka Chambers Of Commerce & Industry), Chhaya Gandhi wants to make complete use of her position to propel the growth of the economy of Karnataka.

As there are many talented singers across the state looking for the opportunity they deserve, Chhaya Gandhi wants to help the singing community to kickstart their journey as a singer and find joy in life.