One for me, one for you. That was the idea behind the establishment of The Indian, an entrepreneurial venture by two young boys. Ishaan Dodhiwla and G.V. Keshav Reddy’s (Pinky Reddy’s son) idea was ‘to start a small business and in turn help society, help others.’ What their business would deal with “is something everyone uses at any point of time, something not too expensive.”
The two youngsters made a general observation and felt the most essential commodity which everyone buys all the time “was clothes.”
So, as they sell one piece of clothing, they donate another piece of the same quality, price and colour. And “the buyer actually is doing charity. The price of the garment includes everything from delivery to taxes, so it almost looks like we are charging for two, so that makes our buyers a ‘donor’ while we act as facilitators. We have conducted two such drives and each time we select an NGO. We inform the buyers and make sure they are a part of the drive because they are ones who actually pay for the clothes,” says Ishaan Dodhiwala who completed his masters in finance.
The two pooled in their savings to begin their venture, which they call ‘The Indian’. “Our first product was a polo shirt. The styling, designing everything was done by the two of us. The design in the first lot was a little loud with the brand logo, tri-colour. The styling was done to build the brand recall, so the design had a purpose,” explains Ishaan.
Explaining the work and the process associated with it, the two admit that it wasn’t easy. With help from friends and family, the two made it possible to realise their dream of launching their online store despite the fact that they were both still pursuing their studies in finance and engineering. “Keshav and I work with a lot of coordination. The fact that he is pursuing his engineering in USA doesn’t stop us from discussing our company,” says Ishaan. He adds that he and Keshav only get one common hour with the time difference between the two countries, and they make the best use of that hour.
As youngsters the two proudly flaunt their T-shirts with India emblazoned on them as ‘it is our baby.’ “I am seen wearing my polos most often. But since we have launched only two varieties in three colours each, I have only six options as of today,” says Keshav.
Ishaan adds, “My friends often tease me that I ran out of clothes, so I am only seen wearing The Indian polo shirts.” The two made rounds of manufacturing units in Coimbatore to get their orders rolling and they say, “It is an ongoing process and we are learning the ropes. One wears imported brands for their high quality and good fitting. We at The Indian have made sure that our polos go beyond all expectations in quality and satisfy our customers. It is a fact that our quality is either comparable or better than our international peers.”
And who would they love to see wearing their polo shirts?
“Everyone. And if I have to take names of personalities it would be Sachin Tendulkar, Salman Khan or Amitabh Bachchan, in fact everyone,” he smiles.
