Women’s Day 2020

Happy Women’s Day 2020 !

Last year, we featured our team in our Women’s Day blog, and this year, we are turning the spotlight on the women in our parent community. We sent out a questionnaire to many and here are some of the answers that inspired us. We wish we could feature every answer and pictures of the women here.

What does your regular day look like?

“As a single-mom, a regular day for me is packed with waking early, cooking for the child, dropping her to school and thereon proceeding to manage work at my startup Out ‘O’ Box Content. Once work is completed, its followed by picking her up from school, finishing her homework, play, cycling and other activities, cooking our dinner and thereafter finishing any pending work late into the night. In between, I also conduct yoga classes, paint and freelance with local NGOs.“ – Charmain Kenita

“I try to go through my day feeling like a rocket scientist, swatting out seemingly insurmountable tasks. When I look back at the end of the day, all I see is spatial debris, and it is going to be groundhog day again tomorrow, but I know that one day I’d have cracked time travel! “ –  Cauvery Muthanna

“My Day starts at 5.00 am, I get work done at home by 8.30 am. Professionally, I run my own preschool , every single day is different and challenging. Most of the days as I walk into the environment of school, I can observe and hear the chatter of eager minds, the shouts of excitement and sounds of the melodious minds harmonising. My Entire day is  almost spent with little ones age group of 1 to 6 years. I love making a difference and giving young kids a direction to follow. “ – Mahalakshmi Naresh

“A strategy consultant by profession, my typical day is endless meetings, fire fighting and people interactions. I still carve out time to box, learn salsa and do zumba regularly. Also, i am usually successful yo squeeze in some ‘ Me Time’ which usually is reading, writing or learning something new. ” – Lahari

“Highly satisfying work and greatly fulfilling family time.” – Simeran Bhasin

What line of work are you into? What career have you chosen? 

“I am in healthcare working as a Manager for proposals.” –  Pooja Durge

“Profession Doctor, Vocation Motherhood.“ – Dr Onkita Adhikary

“Consultation, I work as a Strategy Director with the Big 4.” – Lahari

“I have 2 franchisee stores of Nilgiris.” – Deepika Anil

“Im am HR professional and an Entrepreneur.” – Rekha

“I run a content and digital startup Out ‘O’ Box Content, that handles clients across India and abroad with their digital work, website & advertising. I also moonlight as a yoga teacher, have a soon-to-be-launched parenting website and will be holding an exhibition of my paintings later this year.“ –  Charmaine Kenita

“I head the people function for a HR solutions firm . I believe HR as a function requires a very different set of competencies that set one apart. We influence key leaders and all associates , like a glue bringing it all together! ” – Nicola Varghese

“I am a health care professional, an Optometrist. My line of work is more to do with Advocacy for the profession and public health.” – Paula Mukherjee

“Finance and Strategy.” –  Shobhana

“Designing integrated circuits to make the world a better place to live in.” – Vandana Goel

“After over a decade in investment banking technology, I am currently a serial caterpillar spinning up different cocoons till I settle for the one where I’ll metamorphose into a butterfly.” – Cauvery Muthanna

“Fashion Designing.” – Pratibha A

“Creative cultural management.” – Maureen

“I’m a retired teacher.” – Madhu Gulati

“Management Consulting.” – Pooja Sharma

“I run a Preschool Kids R Kidz Educational Trust which strives towards achieving an environment where children can do things for themselves and give a direction to the kids for their bright future.” – Mahalakshmi Naresh

“IT – Learning and Development.” – Sapna S

“I am a Sr Program Manager at an e-com giant.” -Bijal

“I am a lighting designer and I design the lighting for new construction projects, mainly corporate interiors. I have my own firm and I work from home.” – Suma Khandige

“Business ( furniture retailer).” – Samia Shareif

“I own a business called Crack of Dawn Crafts and we are into paper crafted gifts. We started with 1 girl and now we are a team of 15 fabulous women.” – Sunehra Koshy

“Co founder of a teen innerwear brand called Brag.” –  Simeran Bhasin

“I was in the technology industry for 24 years.” – Irene Manning

“Human Resources.“ – Dechamma

Do you think you have any superpower, other than being a woman? What would you say your star quality is?

Patience, good listening skills, strength, grace, multi tasking, being inspirational, being a perfectionist, creativity, juggling responsibilities, courage, problem solving, empathy, self motivation, integrity, confidence, intelligence, competitiveness, power, charisma, dedication, simplicity, persistence, focus, the power of bearing pain, curiosity, go-getting, resilience, planning, negotiating, self belief and intuition!

Describe your favourite memory as a child?

“When I was around 9, I won 50 paise for being able to walk on a high horizontal pole , end to end. With that 50p coin, I went to the kulfi (traditional Indian ice-cream) stand with my brother and friends. The kulfi stand had a game, to slap a metal hand, and bonus tokens could pop out and you could get 2 kulfis for the price of one. That day we lucked out on that ever evasive victory and won enough kulfis for all of us!” – Cauvery Muthanna

“As a child, my favorite memory is of leading, singing and playing in a church choir for 15 years.“ – Charmaine Kenita

“Reading under the comforter with a torchlight on – away from the prying eyes of my mum.” – Lahari

“Performing on stage, I was a Classical Dancer.” – Deepika Anil

“A lot of my childhood memories are linked to my late brother -Andre. He passed when I was 13 years and the best memory is when he used to take me on bike rides and introduced me to great music!” – Nicola Varghese

“My favourite memory is when I danced outside the gate of my house when a Ganesh procession was happening. I was not bothered about anything or anyone and danced away happily – pure innocence I must say!” – Sapna S

“Summer vacations where my mother would teach new skills prepping us for life.” – Vandana Goel

“Being the fastest swimmer in summer camp.” – Ashritha Saldanha

“Jumping over buildings while playing dabbha.” – Shwetha Narve

“Spending time with my grandmother.“ – Pooja Sharma

“Whole family gathering to celebrate festivities.” – Kavitha NJ

“When i was applauded and appreciated for my annual day at school for the song I am 16.” – Samia Sharief

“Going to the library with my father.“ – Sunehra Koshy

Currently, how do you think women are shaping the future? 

“Sushma Swaraj having been posthumously awarded the Padma Vibhushan this year, is a huge acknowledgement of her undying contributions in governance. Padma Bhushan 2020 awardee P.V. Sindhu has put India on the world stage of sports. Prominent wall street banks refusing deals with organisations lacking a woman on their board of directors, staunchly demonstrates how significant women are in shaping, or even sustaining the future. Even a humble home maker brings a high emotional quotient to the family, raising children to become more wholesome citizens in society.” – Cauvery Muthanna

“I feel women have the undeterred ability to amplify experiences be it at the workplace or the home. We have the heart and mind working in unison. We are slowly but surely shaping the future starting from raising our sons and daughters alike, challenging status quo of customs and work styles and daring to care for causes that need attention. Even AI and bots today have women personas case in point Alexa , Siri and Sophia ! To the future I say – we as women have your back !“ – Nicola Varghese

“Women are making huge strides, owning their place in the world, whether at home or in offices. There’s more that will unfold while we find our hidden voices. Women are speaking of periods as openly as they speak of their careers and demanding equal rights unabashedly.” – Charmaine Kenita

Your message to the world?

“I’m heavily inspired and influenced by Late Mrs Nirmala Srivastava, who founded a spontaneous en-masse meditation phenomenon “Sahaja yoga“. She had been nominated for the Nobel peace prize for her undying efforts towards bringing harmony to mankind. The meditation has always been free of charge and there are centers all over the world. 

“Own your place in this world. It’s fraught with uncertainty and hurdles, but the path we’re paving will make it easy for so many like us to follow.“

“Own your place in this world. It’s fraught with uncertainty and hurdles, but the path we’re paving will make it easy for so many like us to follow.”

“We all have the ability to make someone’s life better with our love. We are capable of giving and receiving love, we all have the ability to make someone’s life easier by filling it with love. Love doesn’t have to be a big gesture. It can simply be a compliment to someone who is feeling down or holding the door open for someone!“

“Be kind and honest.”

“Invest in yourself and dare to care.“

“Life is the biggest gift we all have. Enjoy it to the fullest without wasting even a minute of it.”

“Help those that can’t help themselves.”

“The world is a beautiful place, don’t contaminate it with negative attitude. We grow only when we help others grow.”

“Be unique. Be a role model to the upcoming generations.“

“Be yourself always.”

“Carpe Diem.“

A very Happy Women’s Day to everyone !