By VISHAKHA SINGH
Executive Director, A Comms
When I received the invite to the Women@ Work forum in Mumbai, I was a bit apprehensive about attending the event. Indeed, I enjoy being a woman but I am not a feminist. I don’t believe in fighting for special treatment at work simply because I am a woman. That said, some speakers can touch your life and I bow to the achievers Latika Khosla, Nandini Srikar and Gitanjali Rao for stirring my soul with insights that are not only true for all women, but men too. Being a working woman doesn’t mean that you have to be a man. And I am hoping many men will read this.
So a doldrum about working women was playing in my head when I grudgingly accepted the invitation for the forum. I had to do it out of sheer respect for the lady who invited me. The inaugural address was by the founder whose idea was to simply network and not make it a bra-burning forum. That gave me some relief. I was really not able to reconcile with the fact that I was there; in fact I couldn’t tell many people where I was spending that morning!
Latika Khosla, a colour consultant, started the session with a warmhearted compliment for the well-dressed audience. It was indeed a very welldressed audience, gracious and smiling. Latika spoke about her journey as an entrepreneur, filled with stories of failures and courage and left us with a free guidance on colour trends for 2012. She taught me that success stories are not spoken about, they just express themselves on their own.
The second speaker, Gitanjali Rao, an animation film-maker, was quiet in demeanour, very unlike the strong story she told - allowing just her work to speak for herself. She showcased a short film that was a product of over three years and a Cannes Gold winner.
Many would have heard of Nandini Srikar. A musician with famous Bollywood songs and background score for innumerable ads in her kitty, she looks like a 20-year-old though she has a teenage daughter. Her glow was due to her passion for music. It doesn’t matter that she rarely manages more than two to three hours of sleep in 24 hours, as long as she lets the world dance to her tunes.
The afternoon was not just about these three speakers, it was about an event starting and finishing on time. It was about the vote of thanks starting with a networking chain, where everyone was asked to compliment anyone else in the room to start a conversation. One woman was complimented on her beautiful hairstyle. She calmly replied that it was her wig as she was undergoing chemotherapy to fight cancer. It was inspirational.
The next time you hear of such an event, be shameless and land up without fail. As for the men, sorry guys, but we need to make our networking events more meaningful. Till that time, just read/hear stories.
Feedback: vishakha.singh@acomms.in
