|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
According to social observers, several current factors are promoting the rapid march of Indian women towards the pinnacle of career success at a young age. The first among these is the simple fact that India has the world’s largest young population under the age of 30 — almost a stunning 30 per cent or 350 million. Even at a rough conjecture, this means that there are 170 million young women in that age group in India. Second, India is one of the two world economies that are surging ahead — it is expected that it will leapfrog into the third largest economy of the world by 2012. Third, and most important, one of the driving engines of the Indian economy is the huge number of educated women now entering the workforce. The gender equality enshrined in the Constitution of India — just a dream in 1950 when it was adopted — has become a reality after 60 years. While educated urban
parents make no difference between a son and a daughter, the rural and
small town families realise the importance of money brought in by
working wives, daughters or daughters-in-law. The result is that
whether educated or not, women are making a beeline for the
professional workforce at every level of the market, making a huge
difference to India’s growth story.
Many among them work hard to grab available opportunities, avail of the training facilities and are determined to reach the top in all spheres of life. Their ambitions are fuelled by the support they get from the government as well as every sector of economic activity — be it finance, business, trading, marketing, media, entertainment, hospitality or information technology. A huge number of women are leading the white-collar brigade to high ground, where they are showing impressive results in spite of the challenges they face because of the three Cs that define their lives: career, children and culture! In fact, the Harvard Business Review says that 86 per cent of Indian women in self-chosen careers now aim at the top position in their jobs — and describe themselves as ‘ambitious’ — twice that of their western counterparts. In 2010, a galaxy of such ‘ambitious’ young Indian women dared to touch a stunning new high in a large spectrum of careers. Take the instance of Devita Saraf, the CEO of luxury brand Vu Technologies. "I can sell ice to Eskimos," she laughs, "I used to read books on marketing while still in school. When I opted to study in the US, my father — Raj Saraf of Zenith Computers — readily sent me to study my favourite subject. Every course I took honed my skill at the art of marketing because that was my strength." On returning to India, Devita became the marketing director of Zenith at the age of 21 and got into the thick of the company’s work immediately. In 2006, she took over the IT giant from her father and created a high-end Zenith brand to cater to changing customer tastes. Today, she is one of youngest CEOs in India. In politics, young women like Agatha Sangma of Meghalaya have proved themselves. She is the youngest minister in the present Cabinet with the MOS for Rural Development portfolio. Krishika Lulla is the young wife of Sunil Lulla of Eros International, a company founded in the UK by Kishore Lulla. Growing into a giant in the entertainment industry, the Lulla family has given every opportunity to Krishika to become a producer of films like Veer with Salman Khan in the lead. In 2010, Krishika has been the executive producer of Anjaana Anjaani and later released her latest production Toonpur Ka Superhero with Ajay Devgn. Krishika is a well-known personality in Bollywood and is into production and management of the family’s business of film making and distribution. Fashion is yet another business in which young women have hit the headlines in 2010. A number of luxury brands have entered the Indian market and highly qualified women are taking charge of their interests in India. One such example is Deepika Gehani, creative head of Genesis Luxury which markets hi-end products like Jimmy Choo footwear in India. Every luxury brand has an Indian woman to be its public face and PR head in India. Moreover, young fashion designers have proliferated and made great strides. An example is Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta who presented her fascinating collection last year. "I came into the fashion business by chance," she says, "I joined the SNDT fashion designing course and thereafter, luck brought me to where I am. My Kattran collection for Gen Next women at the LFW Fashion Week in 2009 won me the ‘most promising designer award’ and thereafter, it’s hard work all the way to reach the top!" Entrepreneurship in many businesses has brought a huge number of young women into limelight. Examples are: Kruti Soni, who has learnt the art of jewellery design from her mother and ace designer Poonam Soni, Leher Kala, who has founded her own company to make short films, Hiroo Gidwani, who won the best desserts award for her enterprise Desserts R Us from Times Food, Dinoo Parikh who is a wedding planner and caterer, Saindhavi Roy, a choreographer, and any number of sharp women who have coaching classes, catering services, workshops for young people and IT businesses. Indian women won the highest glory in the sports arena in 2010. Saina Nehwal, at 20, won the top place in the Hong Kong Super Series in December, 2010, and earlier won the Singapore Open title in June. She also won the Khel Ratna and Dronacharya Award earlier. Saina is the first Indian woman to reach the quarter finals in the Olympics and win the World Junior Badminton championship. She also won the gold medal for singles in the Commonwealth Games in 2010. Indeed, the Games produced several winners among Indian women. Too many to be described in detail, some gold medal winners are listed here: Anisa Sayyed and Rahi Sarnobat for shooting; Yumnam Renubala Chanu for weightlifting; Anisa Sayyed for shooting in singles; Geeta Singh Phogat, Alka Tomar and Anita for wrestling; Deepika Kumari, Dola Banerjee and Devi Laishram for archery; Krishna Poonia for athletics; Heena Sidhu and Annu Raj Singh for shooting, Achanta Sharath for table tennis, Ashwini Ponnappa and Jwala Gutta for badminton. In every way, 2010 belonged to the young women of India. It is clear that they are walking in the illustrious footsteps of their predecessors, who have shown how to achieve the highest goals of life with hard work and dedication. The year 2011 could be even better.
|
||||
|
|
||||
