Shalini Datta

Team

About Me

My passion to bring about change led me to quit my corporate career and join the Teach For India Fellowship in 2010. As part of the fellowship I served as a full time teacher in a municipal school classroom in the challenging community of Malwani, Malad West in the western suburbs of Mumbai. The fellowship exposed me to the deep rooted socio-economic problems encountered by the women and children in the communities. It was the stories of struggle and endurance shared by the women, and their hope to create a better life for their children that inspired me to start Aftertaste. My multi sector experience has enabled me to blend corporate discipline with social-sector empathy and imbibe grassroots understanding in strategic thinking. I work closely with the next generation of Aftertaste who are a critical part of the organogram, grooming and guiding them to be future torchbearers.

I dream of a developed India where every individual lives a life of dignity and strive towards it through my work at Aftertaste.

Appeal

I started Aftertaste with a deep belief in the dream of a Developed India—
an India where no child must choose between education and earning,
an India where every woman lives with dignity and does not accept injustice as fate,
an India where no family suffers due to lack of accessible healthcare.

For the past 13 years, I have worked in pursuit of this dream, grounded in the conviction that when a woman is equipped with economic means and social standing, she gains the power to challenge circumstances and build the future her family deserves. I have witnessed 80 women embark on this transformational journey—armed with identity, financial stability, and an unwavering desire to create an alternate reality for themselves and their children.

Through this work, I continue to learn every day: how to navigate complex socio-cultural norms, how to push against years of conditioning, and how to recognise the countless ways patriarchy shows up in daily life. The women at Aftertaste teach me constantly that while we cannot fight every battle, there are some battles we will fight, relentlessly, with grit, courage, and single-minded focus.

Aftertaste is on a mission to create a more equal world by deflecting life trajectories shaped by birth and social position. We create opportunities that transform—
transform a woman from a struggling homemaker into a decision-maker;
transform a woman from surrendering to her fate into one who single-handedly educates her children;
transform a young girl from dropping out of school into a future pharmacist.

But we cannot do this alone. I am here today to ask for your support, because a timely intervention can be powerful enough to alter someone’s life trajectory forever.

A contribution of Rs10,000 at the right time can stop a child from dropping out of school.
Rs 15,000 at the right time can prevent a woman from slipping into dependence.
Rs 25,000 at the right time can sponsor a life-saving surgery.
Rs 40,000 can support the rent of a bigger community space for one month.

Your contribution holds the power to change someone’s life trajectory.

Thank you for standing with us in this work for change.

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