Women Who Inspire Me
Woman is a ray of God.
She is not that earthly beloved: She is
creative, not created – Anonymous
All women are beautiful. They are powerful too. The world
that we have is vastly indebt to the female race for making it a place to live.
Throughout our life cycle we learn a lot from women in various form, be it our
mother, or our loving sisters, or our caring wife, or our giggling daughters;
all add a lot of meaning to the life that we lead and live. I am no different
here. I am being influenced by lot of women in my life. Few of them are from my
family and the extended part of it, while many others are from outside of my
family chain. But the common thing that binds them all is their self-assertion
and their overwhelming passion in doing something against all odds. It is these
women, who have fought against all odds to achieve, may not be huge always,
what they wanted, that inspires me a great lot. On this 'World Women’s Day' week, nothing can be more befitting than writing a post on all those women who have
inspired me and continue to do so. Please be noted, the list is not on any
accreditation scale. All women in my list are equally powerful and I revere
them with equal respect. It is just a compilation of few lovely women whom I
always look up for inspiration.
Yazidi Women Fighters:
It was all lost for the people of Iraq. The notorious ISIS seems
to have engulfed an entire nation with torture, slavery, unending war and religious
fanaticism. Innocent people were killed in hoards, women were getting raped and
kidnapped to be used as sex slaves, young boys were forcefully thrown into war
zone to fight for ISIS; in nutshell it was complete chaos. Even the Iraqi army
were running away like cowards leaving their people to fend for themselves.
When all is lost, believe your women to stand up and win it back for you and
precisely that is what a handful of 20+ year old young women went out to
achieve. When the men failed or were too coward to fight for their survival,
these young women lift their guns to challenge the monster head-on. In 2014,
after witnessing massive genocide, a group of Yazidi women formed a battalion
group to take the fight to the enemy camp. They named it ‘The Sun Ladies’. Only
motto – fight back. Not much ammunition in hand and no immediate support from
outside world insight, these brave women stood up for their right to live free
and their right to live with respect. While their army already showing their helplessness, these
young women believed in what they are out to achieve. I remember a BBC
documentary on these very brave souls and the reaction of a young fighter – we
are not doing this for anyone. It is our existential crisis and we don’t want
to go to the deep of the night without giving a fight. Honestly, for a long
time, I didn’t find anyone so crisp and clear on what they want to achieve. And
didn’t these brave women proved yet again – when there is a will, there ought
to be a way? Who had imagined that a bunch of young women would defeat the
mighty ISIS on their own backyard? Yes, the world came out to these women’s
support later but it is these brave women who showed the world, how a war for
rightfulness should be fought and won. My standing ovation to these
brave-hearts.
Rockstars Of ISRO:
If today ISRO is considered one of the best in the business,
a lot of credit must go to these rock-star women scientists of India. Saree
clad with big ‘Bindis’ on forehead might tempt you to call them aunty or ‘Behenji’
but underestimate these rock-stars at your own peril. When India dreamt of competing
with the best in the world in Space science, it is none other than these women
of India who stood up to the challenge. Notwithstanding racial mock of the
likes of BBC, these scientists proved what India can achieve if she makes up
her mind. Not to forget, they have their families to manage back home. During
the ‘Mangalyan’ mission many of them spent their weekends in pursuance of this
space brilliance and that too for years together. It must also be mentioned
here that most of them are from humble background and struggled all through
their lives to make a name for themselves and that for India. Most of them are
self-made in a period when a largely parochial society saw women education as a
taboo. Many fought with their family members, the society and their own
shortfalls to reach where they are now. In a befitting tribute our PM praised
them and hailed them as the group that the world must look up to for
inspiration. As rightly put by someone – who knew that the women of India would
make a transition from rhyming lullabies like ‘Chanda Mama Dur Ke…’ to their
kids to landing us in Mars itself?
Padma Sri Kalpana Saroj:
She was a born Dalit. Like an average woman of India, she
had a childhood of apathy and negligence. At a tender age she once even tried
to commit suicide. She was married by her parents when she was only 12. To her
bad luck, her in-laws were no lesser than animals. She went through abuse and
humiliation by her husband and his family. Finally she left her abusive husband’s home and the
slum for a better future. Equipped with no formal education she strolled out to
the open world to face the challenges. She joined a small garment factory as a
daily wage worker. She struggled hand-to-mouth for a decade before starting her
own tailoring shop from her savings and government loans. And as they say, rest
is history. Almost everything against her and yet she managed to achieve what
many ably supported souls wouldn’t even dare to. From a small tailoring shop to
garment export with huge furniture business in-between, Kalpana now is
considered one among the successful women entrepreneurs of India. She belongs
to the league that has become an inspiration to every aspiring business person,
not just women. Latest to her credit, she successfully revived the fortunes of
a dying ‘Kamani Tubes’ to profits. As the board of the company agrees – she not
only saved the company but also saved the livelihood of thousands of workers. For
her tremendous achievement she was conferred with ‘Padma Sri’ in 2013.
Women Of Lijjat Papad:
‘Sri Mahila Griha Udyog’ was the first all-women
co-operative society in India. Seven Gujarati women living in the slums of
Mumbai thought of starting something where they can earn a livelihood to survive
in a big city. All they are equipped with were their only skill – cooking. The
women borrowed Rs 80/- from a social worker and started their venture. In 1959
on the terrace of their home they kick started something that now rules most of
the kitchens in India and abroad. From the four packs of Papads they made on
their first day, today they are a multi-million dollar company savouring the
taste-bud of lakhs and crores across the globe. From the beginning they had a
rule – The Rs 80/- would be the first and the last amount of money that they would ever borrow. They never would borrow again, even if the society goes for a loss. I
remember an old DD-National interview of one of these founders. The lady in a
white Saree taught all business school graduates a very vital lesson – we don’t
understand business neither we want to. What matters to us is the quality and
we always remember those who would be consuming our products. They would
also have a family like ours. So we ask ourselves, will we let our kids consume
our own product? Business couldn’t be made any simpler than this. Be honest to
yourself, the world would recognize your honesty. Lijjat is perhaps the only company in the world which stands merely on its decades of honesty.
Tessy Thomas:
We all know APJ Abdul Kalam. Now let’s meet the ‘Missile
Woman’ of India Tessy Thomas. She was the project director for Agni-IV, Agni-V
and Agni-VI missile projects. Like any other Indian working woman she too does
a tight rope-walk between her family and career; between a mother and a renowned
scientist. She belongs to a family of not many means. Her father was a small
time businessman with little to afford for her ever expanding dreams. I am
told, she self-financed her education post her 10th standard through
various scholarships she won at both state and central level. From seeing the
rockets getting launched from her neighbourhood launch station to head the
mission herself, Tessy is an example that many would want to miss. It is none
other than Kalam who named her ‘Agniputri’ and hailed her achievement in a
predominantly male dominated bastion as something as a nation we should cherish.
No wonder why she features in my list of women who inspire me.
All Women Gram Panchayat Of Sisva Village:
These are a rare breed of women who not only challenged the
status-quo but also the mind-set of parochial dishonesty. And their efforts and
fight for equality led Sisva village of Gujarat to become the first all women
Panchayat of India. These 12 member gang are achievers in their own right. Most
of them are graduates and having stable jobs while three among them are still perusing
their graduation. With families to manage, these exceptional women have yet
again set a mark on the field that is predominantly male oriented. All started
when four of these women requested their earlier Panchayat to construct toilets
in schools for the girl students. No one heed to their request which led to
these women form a group and build one on their own. Next they challenged the
mighty Panchayat in polls to get rid of their nonchalance and incompetence.
They not only won the polls but for the last five years they have worked 24/7
to prove what women can do if given a chance. Now the village has good
sanitation measures, doctors regularly available in the hospital, regular
electricity and now they have managed to open a branch of a leading private
bank. It even speaks volumes of their achievement when PM Narendra Modi
personally visited their village and congratulated these young women on their
achievements and perseverance. He too mentioned these women in one of his ‘Maan
Ki Baat’ episode. And you ask these young
girls on what they have to say about their achievements – We are normal girls,
who have big dreams and who love to have fun with our friends. However, we are
aware of our responsibilities as Panchayat members and hope that our example
will motivate parents to encourage their daughters to participate in grassroots
politics.
Chaavi Rajawat:
She is the first woman Sarpanch in India with a MBA degree. Not
only was that, she at her time, also was the youngest in India to hold the office
of a Sarpanch. While we take pride on our high paying corporate jobs, she is
the woman who ditched her job to serve the people of her village, a small
hamlet called Soda, 60 Km from Jaipur. And ask her, why she left her
high-flying job and her urban life – my grandfather was the Sarpanch of this
village when I was a kid and I can still see some unfinished dreams of my Grandfather. I am
here to fulfil those very dreams. She not only is dreaming but also doing it on
the ground. Out of her many dreams, first of them being her Grandpa’s vision of
having a government college till graduation in the village. Proper road
connectivity to the village so that farmers could benefit is what she took up
next and successfully executed. For her exemplary work, Rajasthan government conferred
her with the ‘Best Administrator’ of the year award in 2014. She is an example
for many who want to see clean and efficient politics in India. No wonder that
she was awarded the ‘Young Leader Of India’ in 2013 for her work, dedication
and honesty.
Kiran Bedi:
She needs no introductions. The first female to join the IPS
in 1972 and she still holds the honours of being one of the finest officers the
institute has ever produced. From being an upright police officer to being a
politician, she has executed her duty in every role with extreme brilliance. Among
her many fine acts, one that stands out is when she confiscated the convoy of
the all-powerful PV Narasimha Rao, the then prime-minister, for traffic
violation. That lead to her being invited by Mr. Rao himself to 7 RCR and
praised her for being so honest towards her duty. Her tenure as Delhi police
chief has many accreditations. Sharp fall in crime rate is one that was well
acknowledged by one-and-all. No one can forget the pictures of her fighting the
hooligans of 1984 riots on the streets of Delhi. She was as steadfast as a
police office as she is now as the governor. As the governor of Pondicherry her
works speaks for themselves. She is actively getting involved with the state
government to make sure that the state gets overall development. She personally
monitors the welfare schemes and sees to it that they get employed as planned. Praised
by her fans as well as her critiques, she is one woman who would stand tall
among all the police officers of India for years to come.
Rockstars Of My Project Team:
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