Lyrical Muse

As part of Lyrical Muse’s first digital zine ‘First Light’, we spoke to Decoding Draupadi about the women-centric community they’ve built and the gaps they’re working to close.

Founded in 2022 by Anshika Kushwaha, Decoding Draupadi is a women-first, for-profit social enterprise focused on connecting and supporting urban working women across India.

What began as a simple WhatsApp-based MVP sharing remote, creative opportunities has since grown into a network of over 8,000 women, many of them freelancers.

We didn’t manufacture that outcome – we listened carefully and followed where the need led us.” – Anshika, Decoding Draupadi

The platform now operates at the intersection of access and visibility. Through initiatives such as ‘Draupadi at Work’ and ‘Draupadi on the Dais’, it addresses two persistent gaps of the same problem: access to flexible work and the lack of discoverability for women in professional spaces.

“The next chapter I’m most excited about, and one that doesn’t get spoken about enough, is the relaunch of Draupadi on the Dais... It is our most direct attempt to solve representation not through conversation, but through architecture,” Kushwaha notes, speaking about the upcoming relaunch of Draupadi on the Dais as a more robust, two-sided platform.s

Rooted in both community and utility, Decoding Draupadi continues to evolve with a clear focus on building systems that make opportunity more accessible. Read our full interview with the founder of the community, as we speak about the beginnings, their current initiatives and the larger missions that await in the future

Explore Decoding Draupadi on their website. Read the full interview in our debut digital issue, available exclusively on Calameo.

(Image Credit: Courtesy of Decoding Draupadi)

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