Humara Basta
Humara Basta is a community-driven initiative focused on empowering underprivileged women by teaching them the craft of making practical, durable bags. This program has enabled more than 78 women in the local community to gain valuable skills and earn a sustainable livelihood over the past 3 years.
Every bag made is more than just a product—it represents dignity, empowerment, and opportunity for women working toward a better future for themselves and their families.
At ‘Humara Basta’ which literally means ‘my bag’, Jaiveer has organised ‘Silai our Kamai’ (Stich and Earn) workshops since 2023 which are conducted twice every month to teach the local uneducated young girls and women, learn the technique of making practical/ sustainable carry bags which are helping them earn a living. Local female tailoring community has been engaged to teach the girls the skills to make economically viable and durable carry bags especially for their own section of the society. These workshops have empowered as many as about 78 underprivileged women earn a respectable livelihood for themselves and their families. Humara Basta was infact started 2 years before Cow & Crop when Jaiveer was only 15 years old. He would often see hordes of poor women rushing in the mornings on the street, juggling from one home to another, to mop & clean the homes of the upper class of India, while lugging one/two and sometimes even three children besides them to work.
Alongside, they would be carrying all their days needs in some torn, battered plastic shopping bag which would often break/tear due to the immense weight, spilling their precious food and belongings on the street. As Jaiveer grew up to this sight day after day on his way to the school bus-stop, he gained awareness about what their struggle and challenges were all about. He felt a deep sense of social responsibility and a dire need to uplift the underpeiveledged womenfolk section of the society. The idea germinated in his head as early as when he was only 14 year old, in year 2022. He then urged family and mentors to help him put together the seed money for his idea and as soon as most of the covid protocols were lifted in the beginning of 2023, he organised the first Silai our Kamai workshop for Humara Basta at the local Rotary club building near his home. There was no looking back after that. He had devised a business model to promote skill development through women empowerment, by providing them with a means of sustainable growth and financial independence.