There are moments in life when a single evening holds the quiet weight of a lifetime’s worth of unspoken work.
Last night at the Luton & Bedfordshire Community Awards, surrounded by the murmur of conversation and the soft glow of the lights, The Sattva Collective CIC was named Community Project of the Year 2026.
Standing there under the lights with the glass award held between our hands, my mind didn’t stay in that room. It drifted back over every single month of our existence — back to the bus ride to Cambridge where a quiet spark of clarity first took root, to the endless late nights at the kitchen table, and to the relentless determination it took to build something out of nothing.
We built this collective without government grants, without massive corporate funding, and without external safety nets. We kept going on pure passion, unshakeable grit, self-funding, and the deep, unfaltering support of a community that was hungering for a space of their own. Over the years, I have won countless awards for myself and my businesses. I have stood on stages, collected accolades, and accepted public applause. But this award hits entirely differently. This isn’t about business metrics, personal prestige, or external validation. This is legacy work.
It is the sacred work of creating a dedicated, culturally safe home for South Asian women navigating the silent, complex waters of midlife, perimenopause, and menopause. It is about dismantling generationally inherited taboos, bridging critical healthcare gaps, and ensuring that no woman ever has to walk through this season of transition isolated, dismissed, or unheard.
This recognition belongs to my Mum. It is for always being the good girl, for the quiet grace with which you carried your heavy burdens, and for everything you bore in silence because no one gave you the words or the permission to speak. I see it now, Mum. I see everything you gave up, and I honour the path you walked.
And this recognition is for Khushi. Standing beside my daughter as co-director of this collective, holding this glass award together, I knew with complete certainty that she will never have to carry that silent weight alone. She will never, ever have to swallow her truth or apologise for occupying space.
The Sattva Collective has never been just an organisation; it is a movement. It is proof of what happens when women choose to stop carrying silence as an inheritance and start designing their lives on their own terms.
Here is to the women who came before us, whose quiet sacrifices paved the ground we walk on. And here is to the young women coming next, for whom we are building a world of agency, health advocacy, and unshakeable self-trust. To every single person who has believed in The Sattva Collective from the very beginning — who read an essay, attended a gathering, shared a post, or trusted us with your story — thank you.
My heart is full, deeply grounded, and endlessly grateful. We are just getting started. ✨🏆
