Founder and Director of Sangam India, Suhani Dhadphale

Suhani Dhadphale is the founder, and director at Sangam India, which is a creative Startup, a budding Art Industry, a platform for local artisans, Artists, Entrepreneurs, and creative minds. It has a team of 32 individuals ranging in age from 14 to 24 and a community of over 600 artists from all over India. It is renowned for hosting events where creatives and business owners can exhibit their talents, grow their companies, and network with potential partners.

Suhani Dhadphale, 18, from Pune, thinks that the lack of chances in the creative sphere is a result of compartmentalized education and a closed-minded attitude toward the arts and creative industries. Students are further deterred from entering the sector by a lack of monetization and a limited opportunity for creativity. Suhani was motivated by this to start Sangam India.

Sangam was first established in 2020 as an Instagram social media page where Suhani and her friends created videos on art as part of a series where individuals, particularly artists, shared stories about their experiences. They derived their elevator pitch from there. The group began planning activities like music festivals and open mic nights before the end of 2020. The main platforms used for the online events were Zoom, Google Meet, and Instagram Live.

Over the years, she has been upfront about her vision for Sangam’s growth, the team’s vision for it, and how everyone’s visions work together to produce something that can close a market gap by monetizing art. Because as she knows art is not a commercialized industry in India, it is still seen as a luxury rather than a way of life. The transportation to and through Sangam is an unorganized enterprise. Sangam India mostly has offline events now in Pune and Mumbai, while it is currently growing to other regions of the nation.