Women in Leadership
All Around Us
‘Women in
leadership’ is a very ambivalent phrase, making one wonder, are we talking of
the likes of Mrs. Indira Gandhi? Rani Lakshmibai? Sarojini Naidu, perhaps?
While all these female brave hearts do have stories that continue to inspire
generations of women, it has to be known that one does not have to be the quintessential
‘leader’ to be acknowledged for what one is in society. A leader, is someone
who leaves a memory, no matter how few the number of people who actually
remember, a difference made in one person’s life, is a difference made. The
Pink Legal Club initiative, is an exemplar, in a country where the percentage
of educated women is progressing, no matter how slow, it is bewildering how
little women know about their own legal rights. Empowering women means letting
them know that they have recourse to means for any wrong done to them and that
is what Pink Legal stands for. It is telling of how everyone can make a
difference, be a leader in their own way. Similarly, there are so many women,
every day, going out in the world, to fend for themselves, independently – and
they too are leaders, because they are the ones the younger generations of
girls look up to, “If she can do it, so can I”.
There
are a group of students, girls, who teach the young girls, from families not as
privileged to be able to afford them an education after their own class hours,
at the back gate of the college. The young ones are vivacious, jumpy – but they
always come, to study, to learn what their didis have to say. Small
things, small efforts, but they are amplifying the good that they have, spreading
their message in their own way. On a personal level, I have a friend, who,
once, in our countless gossip sessions told us, very nonchalantly that she was
the first girl from her family who would graduate, have a degree. Wasn’t she a
leader too? Her sisters, cousins, the next generation – would have someone to
look up to because she led the way. ‘Leadership’ is not always about holding a
microphone, having dedicated subordinates or even conventionally ‘directing’
people to do something, it also equates to setting an example, a woman that
keeps herself in the minds of others long after she has no mortal existence,
enough to have young girls through generations hold her with pride, no matter
how few those young girls are in number. The number does not matter, the
influence does. The mother opening her own food delivery service because she
loves to cook and earning her own money, the suited girl in the corporate
office striving to carve her own space in a world dominated by men – are the
same. They are making their own lives, taking it into their hands, and
consequently, both are leaders in their own fields. It takes courage, in both
examples, to step out from the safety of the home, the ‘interior’ that has long
been delegated to be the realm of women from times immemorial to now, yes, even
in the twenty first century. Marriage, then children, is what a woman is
supposed to be destined for and this has not changed even in the most advanced
of societies. A girl’s opinion in the share market will often be ridiculed, a
girl starting her own business will be the talk of the neighbourhood for
months, till they find something else to move on to. It is thus, important, to
applaud the ones who do, and be determined to follow the paths that they paved,
and become leaders in our spheres.
The
military is perhaps one of the most forbidden arenas to women. They are
considered too ‘delicate’ to face the rough terrains, difficult conditions of
living and the violence. Yet, the Indian army has stellar examples of women who
not only acquired their positions through sheer grit, determination and hard work
but also hold decorated positions – joining in 1968, Dr. Punita Arora, the
first woman in the Indian army ascended to the second highest rank, that of the
Lieutenant General, Vijayalakshmi Ramanan was the first Indian women officer in
the Air Force. Neerja Bhanot, died saving the passengers on a Pan Am flight
which had halted for a stopover at Karachi and was hijacked by terrorists. She
could have escaped, but she chose to stay back and ensure that as a purser, all
her passengers got off safely, which resulted in her losing her own life. All
of the people mentioned, are leaders in their own right – protecting the
country and laying down their own life for the sake of duty, they too inspire
people to walk off the trodden path, to reach heights that no one has reached
before and to sacrifice. Women leaders are everywhere, every mother in a
household looks after the house, the husband, the children – they are all
leaders. It takes immense sacrifice for mothers, wives to put the needs of
their loved ones before theirs, and while it is praiseworthy, that should not,
however, be taken for granted. Thus, it is not only the women who literally
held leadership positions historically, or politically that we should look up
to as leaders, but the ones in our day to day lives, who teach us so much
through their gestures, in the way they live, the way they conduct themselves
and their little experiences. Every woman has a story to tell, some stories are
more obscured than the others, and it is in those that are hidden stories of
leadership, of lessons to learn, to inculcate, because every woman is a leader
in her own right.
Neerja Bhanot
Vijayalakshmi Ramanan
Content Head,
Pink Legal Club, Naaz
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