Friday 1 June 2012

Taking the centre stage

There is an old saying that behind every successful man there is a woman. By the time we reach the end of this edit the saying might change!

Behind the successful men, there are women who still choose to stay at home and raise the children, run the household, entertain sophisticatedly and do everything possible to support their spouses’ career goals. They provide moral support to their husbands by supporting their decisions and taking household responsibility off their shoulders. Indian culture reflects a strong bond between family members. Wives support husbands by taking care of all their needs in every possible way to make them win in their business or job. But with changing times, more and more couples seem to be agreeing that independent identities and separate careers or outside interests are better.

There were a lot of sacrifices that the past generation of women made in order to get ahead, and those sacrifices were often marriage and children. But that is changing. The new age women want to develop independent personalities of their own and not to look to their spouse’s company and title for an identity. These women are not only taking care of their families but are playing multiple roles as a wives, mothers, presidents, CEOs et al.

I strongly believe that behind every success story of a woman there must be some support from everyone. No one can achieve anything without someone’s support. It could be direct, indirect or moral support. I doubt if any successful woman exists who hasn’t had a mentor at some point in her career. Role models are essential to exhibit to women the value and attractiveness of a career. Mentors can prevent the feeling of isolation for women and also help them steer the path to promotion. Women should not only be encouraged to find their own mentor but they also should throw a challenge to themselves by becoming a mentor to someone else. Today’s female entrepreneurs are figuring out new ways to combine their careers with family. But how do they do it?

For this superwoman, life is all about her kids, the kitchen menu, her brainchild – the Dhirubhai Ambani International School and her IPL cricket team’s agenda. Yes, we are talking about Nita Ambani who is a businesswoman, actively involved in various philanthropic activities in the fields of education, human resources and disaster relief. She is actively involved in Project Drishti, a social initiative taken by Reliance Industries (RIL) and National Association for the Blind. To her, power is responeditorial Role models are essential to exhibit to women, the value and attractiveness of a career Taking the centre stage power women 5 june-august 2012 sibility. And she derives it from her family, her work, her passion and her very middle-class values. She always wanted to be a teacher, and she has surely converted her passion and dream into reality.

Women should always feel the need to be involved in something and to know that she is creating value. For one’s own self worth, its very important.

Richa Agarwal is one such name who has carved a name for herself in a field that is far apart from her husband Aditya Agarwal’s Emami Group. She manages the group’s foray into art auctions and related infrastructure under the Emami Chisel Art (ECA) banner. It is a collaborative effort between the reputed Emami group and Chisel Crafts, a parent company of the Kolkata based Aakriti Art Gallery. Richa always believes that the world is its stage and she feels confident that their participation in various exchange programmes will make the combined influence incredibly far reaching and the combined expertise immensely valuable in taking art to tomorrow’s connoisseurs.

Another super role model was at the peak of her career as a leading actor when she gave up a successful career to marry one of the heirs to the Reliance empire. Tina Ambani is among the first ladies of business in India—a role she does complete justice to. Today she is involved in a number of charity, arts, and talent endeavours. From taking care of certain aspects of the business to being involved in various works and promoting the arts, she has her hands full. She is involved in Harmony Foundation - For Senior citizens, Harmony Art Foundation - For Promotion of Art. In addition to that she looks after Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital & Medical Research Institute and Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Nursing College. Tina is a complete woman in so many ways.

It is now more important than ever that women have successful female role models. This issue is dedicated to such women who have created an identity for themselves apart from being a celebrity/CEO’s spouse. These women from various fields inspire in many ways. Also, now as there is a big change in society where women are coming out and proving themselves in various fields, a lot of credit goes to their mentors. And in majority of the cases, behind all their success there are men – that could be a father, a brother, a husband or a teacher. So can we say that behind every successful woman there is a man?

Only if the old saying goes like this, “Behind every successful man is an even stronger successful woman”.

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