Suparna Duttagupta: The Story Of A Bold, Courageous Woman
SalamatRaho presents the inspiring story of Suparna Duttagupta. Her journey from being a homemaker to an entrepreneur, is bound to inspire many other women.
No matter what life throws at you, facing it with courage can turn your life around.
The Story Of Suparna Dutta Gupta
Accept what is, let go of what was and have faith in what will be. This is the only option left when we have to survive.
There are people that will inspire you positively and will push you to the limits that will help you keep going. Difficult times are unavoidable, for you to survive those times, you have to be smart, determined, and courageous to come up with a solution or strategy to overcome those hardships. This is the main purpose of sharing these real-life stories of simple people from simple backgrounds, but when the times come to harness your inner strengths, then they move forward. These are true survivors.
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One such survivor was Suparna Dutta Gupta from Kolkata.
Suparna was brought up in Mumbai, had a normal school life, was shy, inhibited and a very calm and composed young girl. She had a typical Bengali upbringing. Father was in a corporate job, so life was standard & routine. She finished her education and took up a job in Mumbai. Suparna never needed to walk the offbeat path as she was content with what life had offered.
Her Marriage
Her mother arranged her marriage and she left for Kolkata like an obedient daughter and wife. Life was smooth sailing. Husband in business, they had two sons, and she was content being a working housewife. A room in their home was renovated into an office space for her. She used to help her husband doing back-end office work, correspondence, or communicating with clients when he started his new ventures.
Stepping Her Foot Into The Business World
As the business expanded, she started handling advertising and copywriting work also.
She hardly went to his office and operated all her office work totally from home as her focus was her home and kids, although she put in long hours of office work especially when her children were at school or asleep. Many years passed and Suparna was settled in her nest.
When A Vacation Turned Into A Worst Nightmare
When she was 46, her husband and two sons went for a holiday to Ooty. They were all having a lovely time. One evening, when they were in Ooty, her husband complained of fever, cough, and cold.
New hill station, no contacts, they decided to go back to Kolkata, cutting short their scheduled visit to Munnar. After returning to Kolkata, her husband was having breathing trouble so on the advice of their family doctor, they rushed him to the hospital. They detected pneumonia and he was put into the ICU.
He was then tested for Swine flu. She noticed the nurses were all masked and taking precautions and she did doubt that it could be something serious. He was put on the ventilator and Suparna tried her best to provide the best treatment possible in a super-specialty hospital. When there was a medical requirement, she contacted all her friends through social media asking for help. Being a housewife and always dependent on her husband, Suparna for the first time felt handicapped and wished he had made her stronger and more independent.
The Turning Point
Mr. Duttagupta passed away on 30th March 2015. Just like that. A week after they were on vacation.
Can one ever be prepared to face the death of a loved one?
Suparna went numb. Emotions were dead. In shock. Her relatives were all around. Friends visited. But Suparna just couldn’t react.
As hard as some days are, it’s the difficult ones that can really bring tremendous growth in your life. When it feels like you are about to lose it all, you have to find the strength to overcome it. You have to awaken that strong spirit of resilience. And this is what Suparna focussed on. She could see her two young sons looking towards her for strength. She realized that if she broke down, everything would be lost.
Relatives were all giving her advice and directions to follow rituals etc. But Suparna made a decision to do what her husband would expect from her. To take charge of her sons, family, and business.
Suparna Took Charge Of Her Husband’s Dream
Suparna rebelled and started going to the office even though the typically 13 days mourning period was not over. Many complained, criticized, yet, she only focussed on her husband’s business and to see that it survived. Her sons, who were 12 and 18, were modern in their outlook, so no white clothes. She was a true image of strength and inner power for the sake of her children.
The idea of managing her husband’s business helped her to deal with the pain and loss.
Just leaving the depressing mourning scene at home and spending time alone in her husband’s office, gave her solace.
Till age 46, she was a happy contented housewife. In just one week, her life changed and she was a widow who had to now take care of two young sons and a business overnight.
Internally, she was broken, getting palpitations, fear of the unknown took over. She was overprotected by her mother & husband and now had to face the world on her own. But she faced it all with calmness and control. Many suggested that she should sell out, take her company shares, and live life comfortably. But she wanted to keep her husband’s hard work alive, for the sake of her sons & her own peace of mind. She did not take the easy way out. Her husband had set all processes perfectly so she just followed his standards. Her husband’s business partner gave her moral support and guidance and Suparna took over like fish to water. Her business partner, siblings, and a few good friends were a strong support system.
Their Venture Started Flourishing
Their company was into organizing exhibitions for 27 years. She had to travel to various cities and stay away for days at a time. Bhubaneswar, Ranchi, Patna, Visakhapatnam, Ahmedabad, Greater Noida, Siliguri, etc, and many other cities. It wasn’t smooth sailing. There were constant complaints from various segments on various issues which had to be looked into. Her team handled it all calmly. Suparna was not used to facing hundreds of people and crowds yet, with the help of her team, they confidently and successfully managed the same despite the problems faced.
She Overcame The Impediments
At times, there were sudden government regulations, changes, or some or even the covid lockdowns, and all exhibitions were not allowed to be organized for 18 to 20 months. Financial losses and difficulties had to be handled.
But part of surviving is being able to move on. Human beings are very resourceful. When you fight for survival, you don’t think much; you just do. If you think too much, you sink.
Her constant travel and focus on office work indirectly made her neglect her home and sons. Her younger son was just 12 and complained of missing his mother. To gain something, one needs to lose something. However, slowly, but surely, her younger son understood and also started supporting her morally and by becoming independent in his studies and other activities.
It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change. – Leon C. Megginson
The Success Story
And yes, Superna did succeed and marched forward. Since 2016, her company G S Marketing Associates has won Exhibition Excellence Awards in the categories of:
Big Show
Grand Show
Best Debut (for Visakhapatnam)
Leading Lady of the Industry
Leader in Marketing Initiatives
Leader in Green Initiatives
Leading Show – Consumer
Best Debut (for Greater Noida)
Top Exhibitor – Visitor Value
Leading Show – Fitness
Top B City Show for B2C Exhibition (for IIMTF Bhubaneswar)
Leading Consumer & Houseware Show
The Leading Show Award in the Fitness & Sports category for organizing the FITEXPO INDIA
The Leading Show: in the Consumer & Houseware category for organizing the IIMTF in Kolkata in 2019.
The Best Debut Show for organizing the IIMTF in Ahmedabad in 2019.
Suparna also has a sister organisation with her partner for manufacturing soft toys.
This fledgling company is a small unit making high-quality soft toys. It was her husband’s pet project and she intends to make it a good substitute for the cheap Chinese toys which have flooded the Indian Market for so many years when in India, her company is capable of making high-quality toys that are more durable and of very high quality too.
The struggle goes on. Many Govt. regulations have to be followed, etc, which will all be done with the help of the concerned authorities. God willing, all her dreams will come true… and soon.
Team NomadLawyer salutes Suparna DuttaGupta. She has proved that irrespective of all negative circumstances when one decides to take charge, adapt and move ahead towards acceptance and success, one can achieve it.
TELL US YOUR STORY AT: connect@nomadlawyer.org
What is SalamatRaho
Team NomadLawyer’s ambition is to positively impact the world through the stories of HumanKind. We believe in the art of storytelling. Through “Salamat Raho ”, we are creating a database for social good in the form of “Impact Stories”, which will help us achieve our goal and reach out to the world at large. By contributing through your stories and experience you create a significant impact on the community and an exceptional experience for yourself. Visit the NomadLawyer portal at nomadlawyer.org and you can also get in touch with us at connect@nomadlawyer.org
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