An online support group for women has now become a physical community.
Some members of the Facebook group met in October and initiated meetups in Bengaluru, Kolkata, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, and Pune. The group plans to host meetups regularly.
Started by Sreemoyee Piu Kundu in 2018, and named after a non-fiction book she wrote, the online group has over 1,000 members. It includes members from diverse fields such as law, teaching, HR, communication, finance, marketing, and medicine.
The group says it embraces all sorts of single women — unmarried, divorced, widowed, separated, abandoned, differently abled, and those from the LGBTQIA+ community.
Sreemoyee, a mid-40s single woman herself, says, “The idea of a meetup arose in October to break a patriarchal ritual that separates women on the basis of their marital status,” she says.
The group plans international chapters in the USA, Dubai, and Malaysia. All the chapters function through WhatsApp groups. Members are inducted after they fill in a form.
The group addresses one theme a month — in November it is ‘women and wealth’. “Women in our communities are not well-versed about investments, and face roadblocks when starting a venture. We want to encourage women not only to save money but also become entrepreneurs and employ other women,” says Sreemoyee.
Every month, the group hosts two Zoom calls discussing the topic of the month. On November 13, Priyanka Bhatia, who helps women gain financial literacy, is talking to the community. The theme will continue in December, and January will be about ‘self-love’, with a strong emphasis on mental health.
For details, check the page Status Single on Facebook
Why Bengaluru?
The city, known to be diverse and global, needs such a group, says Susan Timothy, Bengaluru chapter head and mental health expert. “A lot of single women come to work here. They face problems like finding a home. Some face harassment from real estate agents and house owners,” she says. The group helps to connect people and also offers solutions, Susan says. The group is not meant just to vent stories of painful breakups and loneliness, but also to provide support in daily situations, says founder Sreemoyee. “Recently, after the unfortunate death of Puneeth Rajkumar, certain roads were cordoned off, and many including women were stranded at work or anxious about reaching the airport. We helped them find safe transport options,” she says.
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