Women Empowerment Lecture Series - Sheroes

Inspiration

I have always been interested in the field of women empowerment and the personal project of the Creativity Activity and Service (CAS) element of the IB program gave me the perfect opportunity to explore something in this field. On our CAS trip to Ranthambhore, Rajasthan, I spoke to some students at the local school we went to volunteer at. I learnt from them that a large number of girls had dropped out after class 10. Visibly, the cohort of boys in the 11th and 12th grades was much larger than that of the girls. On speaking to some of the girls, I realised that most of them do not plan to pursue further education by attending college.

A large part of the problem was that neither the girls nor their parents recognised the merit of further education. They would much rather have their daughter work on their farm or engage in any other local job to earn for the family. Some even want their daughters to get married off young. I thought one way to change this mindset would be to encourage these girls themselves to get interested in pursuing their education further by providing them with role models and exposing them to the variety of careers that lie open to them, and they can excel in.

This inspired me to do this project to help these girl children develop dreams, ambitions, and role models and hopefully, as a result, to encourage them to stay in school to work towards that dream. So, I came up with the idea of organising a series of 3 talks, over a span of 3 months, with successful women from a variety of fields to achieve this goal.

Planning

As I spend a couple of hours a week at the Mahalaxmi Mumbai Public School, a school for children from disadvantaged background, run by an NGO, Akanksha, I planned to organize the lecture series at this school.

I was familiar with the school, its students, and the school’s leaders. I contacted Ms Chitra Pandit, the Chief of Development and Communications at Akanksha, who connected me to Ms Shweta Bhalerao, whom I coordinated the rest of my project with. I spoke with her about my proposal, and she was on board with it.

Now, I had to find my first speaker for the talk. I remembered asking a girl called Priyanka from the school we visited on our CAS trip what she wanted to take up as a career. She said she wanted to be an IAS officer (Indian Administrative Services). This got me thinking. My grandfather is an ex-IAS officer and knows many in the field. I asked him if he knew any women in the IAS still in office and he responded with a list. Out of these, I chose Ms Ashwini Bhide for our first talk.

Lecture 1 - Ms Ashwini Bhide

Ms Bhide is the Additional Municipal Commissioner of the Eastern Suburbs of Mumbai, only second in line to Mr Chahal, our Municipal Commissioner. She also has a second post, heading the Aqua Line (the underwater line) of the Mumbai Metro. The talk was held on Thursday, 23rd February at 4:00 pm at the Mahalaxmi Mumbai Public School, Tardeo.

The talk went very well. We sat in a classroom of the school with the girls of Grades 9 and 10. I moderated a question-answer session for which I had prepared some questions from before, which I have attached in the Evidence space. Ms Bhide revealed to us that she comes from humble backgrounds and she conveyed information about her journey and challenges. Following this, we opened the floor to questions from the students at the school. I was glad to see that so many of them were interested; many asked questions I hadn’t even thought of, even some specific ones like ‘which book did you study from for your UPSC (Union Public Civil Service) Examination?’.

The students seemed to engage with Ms Bhide and seemed to take a genuine interest in the field she is in. Some were even fervently note-taking while the talk was going on. At the end of the talk, I was surprised to see the students asking for Ms Bhide’s autograph! (This happened at the end of every subsequent talk too.) I realised then that my aim for the talk had been achieved as these students looked up to Ms Bhide and some considered her their role model, after listening to her speak about her journey and struggles.

Lecture 2 - Ms Ashwini Thorat

For the second talk, I invited Ms Ashwini Thorat, the Chief of Design and Planning at Adani Airports, in charge of the design and planning for 8 airports across India. She has also served as the Head of Airport planning at GVK Airports and was instrumental in the development of the Mumbai International Airport. Ms Thorat, by introducing herself as a ‘working woman’s daughter’, set the tone for the rest of the talk, speaking of her upbringing and her journey, tactfully answering questions from the students, even one upfront one about her salary!

We hosted the talk with a bigger cohort of students from this time on. On Ms Shweta’s advice, we included the boys of the school for these talks too, which seemed practical as they should also listen to these talks, understand that women are capable of everything that men are, and learn to treat women with the respect they deserve. We sat in the hall of the school for these talks and they, too, went smoothly.

Lecture 3 - Ms Pallabi Ghosal

For the third talk, I invited Ms Pallabi Ghosal, a young and upcoming partner at Trilegal, a prestigious law firm in Mumbai. By making her answers more relatable to the students (that is, expressing her distaste for math as a child), she engaged with the students and, through an interactive session, encouraged them to pursue whichever career they wished to, while stressing the importance and indispensability of hard work.

Reflections

As I contemplate the journey of my CAS personal project, I feel a sense of accomplishment and transformation. Each of the guest speakers were brilliant orators and the sessions with them felt more like an informal conversation with the students as opposed to formal talks. I think this casual atmosphere made the children more comfortable and allowed them to interact with the speakers and ask the questions they really wanted to ask. All the speakers established a relatable connection with the students, bridging the gap between aspirations and real-life achievements.

The interactive sessions displayed the immense power of role models in guiding young students and inspiring them. The array of questions posed by students, ranging from career choices to candid inquiries about salaries, illuminated the importance of authenticity and embracing challenges. The candid responses helped the students get an authentic view of the career path as a real option for them and the challenges they should expect to face as a part of it.

Each speaker conveyed through their talks not only specifics about their career paths and professions but also life principles that are generally applicable to every situation. By talking about their challenges, they demonstrated resilience and courage. By talking about their failures, they proved that failure is not the end, but only a means to reach one's goal. By talking about their successes, they displayed what women are capable of and the credit that they deserve for their success. Through the talks, the speakers showed that they were imperfect, whether in academics in school or any other facet of life. But imperfection is only human and instead of striving for perfection, one should strive to work as hard as they can and not worry about the outcome.

The guest speakers and their humble backgrounds toppled preconceived notions about success, inspiring students to envision their own success in whichever field they choose. The palpable enthusiasm exhibited by the students highlighted the impact that the talks had on them and how inspired they were. I saw a noticeable shift in the students' attitude in the sessions. They evolved from timid and passive listeners to confident and curious learners who were not afraid to ask difficult questions and digest even more difficult answers. I am proud of the students for the way they approached the sessions and the eagerness to learn that they all seemed to imbibe.

At the end of this project, the magnitude of its impact dawns on me. The talks of empowerment possibly changed mindsets and inspired the students to chase their dreams, a lasting impact that stretches much beyond the classroom. The trajectories of the lives of at least some of the students may be changed completely as they each chart their own course.