Our Team

Soumita Basu

Founder & Structural Designer

Soumita finds joy in solving problems. Dealing with her own disabilities made her step into designing innovative adaptive clothes.
Soumita has worked for nearly 18 years as an international development practitioner and journalist. She has extensively worked at the grassroots across India, with under-served communities, building inclusive models of sustainable change. She has written extensively on social development issues in mainstream and academic journals, and also made a few documentaries.

She holds a Master’s degree in Development Studies from ISS, The Hague, Netherlands, and a PG Dip in Journalism from Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), Chennai. She is the recipient of the Netherland Fellowship Programme (NFP) by the Dutch Government.

Amita Basu

Co-Founder & Director

Amita started Zyenika as she wanted to fill the gap of basic clothing needs for people with physical challenges, based on her lived experience as a caregiver. She had her first child at 20, and since then spent 24 years primarily raising two daughters and building the home. At 44, when her husband’s enterprise on laboratory chemicals and instruments was at a point of shutdown, Amita took the decision to take to the steering wheel. Her single-handed marketing efforts got life back into the business. This was in a field women are unheard of. She was forced to quit this role in 2014 to tend to Soumita during her illness. Amita has owned each of her roles – of the mother, business partner, caregiver – with great pride and admirable flexibility. When the going got tough, she got things going. And she may frown occasionally but never forgets to smile through the hardships.

Maithilee Gohel

Maithilee Gohel is collaborating with Zyenika to create incontinence innerwear for both men and women. She is a Senior Lecturer at MITID, Pune and is a Fashion and Textile Designer from NIFT and NID. Maithilee has a rich experience working with premier apparel groups like Raymond Apparel Ltd, The Arvind Ltd., and Triburg Buying House

Avanish Mishra

Avanish Mishra is the other brain behind our incontinence innerwear. He is giving it a much-needed twist with his Bio-mechanical background. He is a mechanical engineer with a special inclination on working on silicone-based prosthetic human body parts.

Shreya Jain

Shreya Jain is working with Zyenika to create adaptive prototypes, using her special interest in pattern making and construction techniques. She is a fashion designer from NIFT, Kolkata, and has been awarded for best academic performance, BDes, 2019. She is on her journey to explore more contemporary styles using traditional Indian aesthetics – bringing our ethnic fabrics and weaves back in fashion.

Our Advisors

Vaishali Pai

Occupational Therapist (OT)

Vaishali Pai is an Occupational Therapist (OT) specializing in child and adult rehabilitation. She is the Founder of Tamahar, working with children with disabilities (like Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Downs Syndrome, Rare disease, Genetic disorders).

Apar Saoji

Dr. Apar Saoji is a medical practitioner specializing in Yoga, Rehabilitation, and Naturopathy. His expertise is in working with patients of autoimmune and locomotor disorders, particularly the adult and geriatric population. He is the Deputy Director (Academics) and Associate Professor at SVYASA University for BNYS and MD in Yoga.