At times, Jannat Patel thinks her existence was fated. Each of her grandparents lived in a different part of the country and seemed to have no business coming together. But they did, and so she was born. When you think your existence was predestined, it’s hard not to think about purpose. For the first few years of her life, Jannat believed it was to be a doctor. Her nani was sick and she hardly ever saw her out of bed those days, but every now and then, she’d tell Jannat that when she’d grow up, she’d give her an injection and she wouldn’t be sick any more.
Jannat so wanted to be the one to save her, so she decided to be a doctor. But then her nani passed away and she discovered that blood made her feel woozy, and suddenly she wasn’t so sure anymore. Medicine slowly fell away in favour of teaching. She loved to gather her friends round and play Teacher Teacher, directing her class of pretend students with her slate and her precious boxful of chalk. But then she grew up and realised that her ideal work life involved her sitting in a room alone with her work, so she decided to be a developer.
But if you were to grant ten-year-old Jannat a glimpse into her future, she’d probably be surprised. “I didn’t know any women in my family who worked then, so I assumed that I wouldn’t either.” By the time Jannat was done with college, the idea of women joining the workforce was only gradually gaining acceptance in her family, so her decision to get a job was met with much apprehension. “They worried that it would change me, that it would make me forget my values. Sticking to my decision was tough, but my mother believed in me so much, so I stood my ground and convinced everyone that I wouldn’t change.”
Jannat started her career at Paper Plane Design Solutions, where she worked as a web developer, before moving on to Frappe two years later. At Frappe, Jannat volunteered to build Mon School, a platform that teaches people how to code, for FOSS United. Unimpressed with the existing array of LMSs, Jannat decided to build her own using the Frappe Framework. She then used her new open source LMS, now called Frappe Learning, to build Frappe’s learning platform called Frappe School.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing though. Now a married woman, and a Burkha-clad one at that, she finds herself part of a demographic that she almost never sees represented in tech. “I’ve been working for over five years now and I’ve seen exactly one other married female developer. I’ve never even spoken to her, but just her being there meant so much to me. When she had to leave her job to take a break from her career, I was crushed. Probably silly, I know. But when you have so few role models to begin with, you find yourself rooting for their success so much and every obstacle they face feels like something you might too. You need to know that they’re doing great so you can feel like you have a shot too. I think that might be why I like speaking on stage and putting myself out there, so I could try to be that person for at least one girl.”
Jannat recalls the first time she spoke on stage in her career. “It was at IndiaFOSS 2.0. I remember there were only a handful of women at the event, and only one other hijabi. The second time I spoke on stage was at the ERPNext Conference in 2022. This time, two different people came up to me and told me how happy they were to see a hijabi on stage. The third time I did was probably the best, because this time, I wasn’t the only hijabi on stage AND I got to speak to so many women who were glad to see someone on stage representing the community. They made me realize that every girl is just looking for someone they can see themselves in, someone they can look up to, and I feel so happy that I might have been that for them.
“When I was younger, I used to feel uncomfortable being the only hijabi in the room. I was so visibly part of a minority, one that only seems to get targeted more and more these days. I felt like I was being pigeonholed before I’d even get a chance to speak. I don’t feel self-conscious anymore though. I just feel happy that I get to represent my community, so the next girl who walks through the door doesn’t feel the way I used to.” Maybe Jannat has found her purpose after all.
