Awarded the
“Rodinstar” Post
of the week!!
I recently was invited to speak on Women in Technology….to give my perspective. While thinking what to talk, i suddenly got lost. As i never have looked at business or technology from a gender perspective. I looked around and figured out that basically i was of a different breed & thus lets share some of my genetic make up. I put together few things on being a Woman.
From Day 1 we need to believe in ourselves. I was let down saying i won’t be able to do engineering after receiving a mediocre mark sheet in 12th. I proved everyone wrong…i was among only three people in my class who cleared the first year without a KT…and believe me it was an achievement in college. I traveled 2 hours each day to make it college. I believed in myself & stood for myself
Women develop cold feet a lot quicker then men. Just be brave and make the kill. I was awarded internship in my post graduation course on marketing @ Phil Corporation [the guys who sell Konica films]. I was told to work with their distributor. I landed at the distributor’s address, only to be shocked. The distributor had his set up on Andheri link road, in one of the huts that line road, a chicken shop on its left, a tadi madi kendra on the right. I stood across the road and figured out what to do. I finally went for it & have never turned back since. & the rest is more than a decade old histroy
The gender bias exists in our mind. We need to get rid of it from within before asking others around. I’m not shy of being a woman and i practice that very strongly. If a woman steps into a kirana store and would ask for sanitary napkins, the shop keeper would go in the corner, pick it and wrap it in a newspaper and deliver. I haven’t accepted such packets till date. I can carry my packet as it is without hiding it & walk the road. Women need to kill the gender bias herself first!
After a lot of conferences i seldom see women hanging around and network. We need not feel shy to stay back late, yes we need to be secure. Women also shy away from one – to – one dinners with people in industry. Why can’t we just go out for some catch up with like minded people. Its okay to be seen dining with other men. Lets not think would people around will think. Mean business.
For a woman to reach the top, she would any day make more sacrifices then men. Thus, look within and think why are doing what you are doing. And once sure, don’t look back. Go for it, if you know from within !
asha chaudhry
awesome post kinnari! welcome back!!!
i don’t know whether this stands true just for women in tech professions. i think any working woman today will relate to your post!
i simply love the sanitary napkin point you raised!! and the fact that women need to network with other people – who may just happen to be men!!!
keep writing kinnari!
kinnari thacker dave
🙂
Abhijit
well, u cldn’t b mor r8… Also der sld b a LIKE and SHARE button. I, being a boy or u cld say MAN really want wot u wrote, bt i really doubt if the next gal or woman want it. Anyways, u earned urself a FAN miss Kinari.
Anamika Joshi
Very very nice Kinnari!! awesome points. The napkin one as asha said is really a step ahead thought! I donno if i will ever be able to do that…hats off. And as asha said, keep writing for us.
kinnari thacker dave
ty
kinnari thacker dave
as i said the gender bias is within, before we ask the world to dissolve it…we need do it ourselves
Amar Pratap Singh
Simply brilliant 🙂
asha chaudhry
kinnari,
check the top of your post!!
kinnari thacker dave
wow, i’m elated
Rishi
Great points! Though the title says Women in Tech., I guess these themes apply to a broader section…Women in workforce, business et al.?
kinnari thacker dave
Yups. Agree.
Charu Zelawat
Hi Kinnari ,
I am as new as a bud to this forum,but went awestruck while reading this post of yours as I recently experienced something so near to your observations( which I will share pretty soon).
Glad to see like minded people here.
Your article is so transparent.
Mridula Arora
Wow! great article & well put points.
I too think that Women need to help themselves first! It can only happen if women believes in themselves.
But we must not forget that women in India are conditioned from childhood that ‘its very important to settle’. This results in low self esteem & weakness if they don’t get family/man support.
Its like chaining an elephant child! If you chain a child elephant then it will think it can’t break that chain even when it grows old..