A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong it is until it’s in hot water – Eleanor Roosevelt

Each time I read this line, I relish a newer flavor. Though I confess, I couldn’t appreciate the whole crux until I got associated with Incredible Women of India!

IWI, as you know, is an organization that showcases the stories and journeys of inspirational women from across India. The endeavor is to create newer role-models for young and old by featuring women who are doing incredible work.

IWI believes that just as it takes a village to raise a child, the collective wisdom of inspiring women, their experiences could be the right impetus we need to push ourselves out of our comfort zone!

And what a stellar set of ladies graced our forum this year! Like a spectacular bouquet of myriad blooms. Each panelist made her presence felt, enriched us both in tangible and intangible ways. Just as tea leaves leave their rich color and flavor when dunked in hot water, their tough situations made these speakers, stronger and sturdier.

Here are some of the IWI 2020 panelists

Rhiti Chatterjee Bose stole our hearts with her soft-spoken demeanor. She is a Steel Magnolia indeed. A very erudite Sutapa Basu shared all about the publishing world. Her insider tales had us all in splits. When a very passionate Dr. Aparna Hegde, TED Fellow 2020, regaled us about her student days, her love for Math and Medicine, I’m sure a few young ladies veered towards STEM.

Ms. Akaancha Shrivastva has been doing stellar work, educating women against cybercrime. Her session helped us to fortify selves in our online presence. But truth be told, some of the stories she shared, got us teary-eyed.

The rocking ladies from the alleged male bastion – IIT – Dr. Nandita Dasgupta, Ms. Shyamala Rajaram, held the pulse of the audience with their ‘electric’ presence. Ramaa Sonti with her salt of the earth bearing touched a chord deep within. The audience agreed heartily with Himika Chaudhuri and Nivedita Roy’s experiential wisdom.

The Additional Solicitor General of India, Ms. Aishwarya Bhati was a revelation. Kind, humble, and vivacious. Ms. Bhati and Sqn. Ldr. Prema Nair took the topic of ‘male chauvinism’ head-on, tackling it as ‘judiciously’ as possible. 

Ms. Atishi Marlena, MLA, AAP, has garnered a huge fan-following for her work in Delhi schools. She didn’t mince words when she spoke about her destiny’s newest serving or its twists nor take the route of ‘politically-correct’ answers when asked tricky questions.

We danced to the tunes of the very elegant Paridhi Joshi. Rituparna Ghosh has us taking notes on creative writing. We sat rooted as Kalpana Manivannan held forth about ‘Urban Farms’. Sakshi Jain spoke about her challenges as an entrepreneur. Dr. Tripti Sharan’s Talk was timely in Corona times. Nidhi Tiwari and Ujjwala were also the featured speakers at IWI

What was starkly evident as IWI hosted these splendid ladies was that the struggle to break those unseen shackles and demoralizing barriers was very real. Yet these chains didn’t break their never-say-die spirit. They were happy and sorted individuals who were eager to support the cause of sisterhood, sharing freely what made them rock or what made them wince.

We learned that 

• Prejudices, perceptions and preconceived notions, gender bias, and disparity are very real. It takes one champion woman at a time to change those old mindsets
• At the top, it is still a Big-Boys club. But the fight to change the skewed ration is on.
• Washroom travails aren’t fictional nor are trumped up for formulaic movies. The offices haven’t been equipped for female employees. The private sector has done better in this aspect.
• It was their innate self-belief and tremendous passion that kept the speakers going. Pandemic induced challenges were mere speed breakers in this break-the-template-we-will journey of theirs
• They were all team players, acknowledging the support system that took care of the nitty-gritty. They understood that no (wo)man is an island.
• When asked what made them unique, the common answers were personal integrity, perseverance, ability to dream big or out of the box. Aren’t these the very attributes that drive most of us?
• Each speaker had a different take on how they would use their bestowed superpowers for a day. Mind you, all the panelists wished for the greater good of the community, and not pitching for self.

Apart from the compelling live sessions, we had prolific writers like Aashisha Chakraborty, Sowmya Vallabhneni, Tanushree Ghosh, Shalini Mullick, Vijayalakshmi Ramachandran sharing their evocative pieces with us, which made our understanding of the varied monthly themes better!

As the action-packed year wound up, I am filled with new energy, having learned so much from these spirited women. They have left a piece of their brilliance with us, imbuing us listeners. It is unto us to imbibe the same for a better us.

Enough of imagining her with a ladle; She will soon firmly be in the saddle

Come new year, we at IWI will come back with more riveting stories.

Staying Rooted, Soaring High!

Do abide by us then!

Till then…ending with a few verses of Maya Angelou

Out of the huts of history’s shame

I rise

Up from a past, that’s rooted in pain

I rise

I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.

About The Author – Anupama Jain, IWI