Rising Star

In the male dominating world everybody doubted their ability to achieving something and wanting them to under the feet. But they don’t give up on themselves, they keep on trying, they follow their dreams to undo all negativity and mean-minded thoughts. On this celebration of womanhood, we salute the women from all the stages from society who have broken the intangible barrier to achieving something meaningful and big in their lives.

Guneet Monga (film producer, CEO Sikhya Entertainment)

Expresso: Today is International women’s day. In your experience as a successful woman, what is its significance?

Guneet Monga: You inspire more people, you help others to put on their crown as well. You help other women walk the path of success.

Expresso: What advice would you give to women in this international women’s day?

Guneet Monga: Be yourself. You are perfect the way you are.

Kamal Kaur (Mountaineer)

Expresso: Today is International women’s day. In your experience as a successful woman, what is its significance?

Kamal Kaur: The significance is “it’s my identity, self-worth, strength as the power of the mind-body and soul. It’s the drive to succeed, a symbol of what hope, faith and trust can bring you. The drive to survive.”

Expresso: What barrier have you faced as a woman in becoming successful in your field?

Kamal Kaur: There have been many, but being in a male-dominated world, being judged on my appearance and having to deal with going against the grain. Having to work as many hours as I can, to support my mountaineering, healing and studies.

Expresso:  What advice would you give to women on this International Women’s Day?

Kamal Kaur: We are in control of our mind, no one can take that away. Never give up, keep exploring and keep inspiring. And last but not least, just remember one thing always, we don’t need to be empowered, we already are. Let’s work towards equality and work together to make a difference in this world for ourselves.

Snehal Srivastava (Director of Ace Proton Communications), Aayushi Verma, Sonakshi Rathi and Jyoti Thakur

Snehal Srivastava ( Director of Ace Proton Communications)

Expresso: Today is International women’s day. In your experience as a successful woman, what is its significance?

Snehal Srivastava : It’s very important to celebrate your wins whether small or big. Women’s Day allows both women and men to celebrate and appreciate the contribution of women in society and industry. We have seen the importance of appreciating women for their work as now we can find them heading companies, participating actively in politics, sports, etc…that we did not use to see earlier. “Women’s Day has basically boosted the morale of many amongst us to get up and not walk behind men but besides men.”

Expresso: What barriers have you faced as a woman in becoming successful in your field?

Snehal Srivastava: Like every other woman achiever, I also faced some challenges and barriers in my chosen path. Success is not easy for any gender, but for women, the challenges are more and the path seems difficult due to our society being a patriarchal one. However, I feel fortunate to be a part of the industry which has a larger number of women than men.

Expresso: What advice would you like to give to women on this International Women’s Day?

Snehal Srivastava: Why to give advice only to women, I would like to give advice generally to everybody. As we know, this Women’s Day theme is “Generation of Equality”, so let’s try and be sensitive towards using gender-specific words like ‘watchman’, ‘policeman’, ‘man-made’, etc. switching them with general words like ‘guard’, ‘police officer’, ‘machine-made’, etc…
And to all the women out there, I would like to request you all to believe in yourself. Don’t let anybody tell you what you can do and can not do. Don’t let anybody tell you your worth. Don’t let anybody decide your future. Just go out there and rock.

Jyothi Tommaar ( Choreographer)

Expresso: Today is International women’s day. In your experience as a successful woman, what is its significance?

Jyothi Tommaar: I personally feel that Women don’t need One day of celebration for their existence. We are Powerful and don’t need others to tell I am powerful. Men need to realise that by celebrating Women for one day rest 364 days they can’t ill-treat us. Women need to celebrate  Womanhood every day. Now since it’s celebrated one day, we must make women more and more aware of their power.

Expresso: What barrier have you faced as a woman in becoming successful in your field?

Jyothi Tommaar: I am fortunate in family front as had all the freedom and my parents supported us to learn and explore whatever we wished to. But unfortunately when it comes to Being a dancer and society.. well it’s not a good situation. We are looked down upon. We are still put in Nach girl category. No respect. People have a different, point of view, they think that being a dancer they can take any liberty with us and we will willingly entertain them. There have been straight conversation like in which people straight said that you are a dancer and you entertain people and we know what it means so if you agree we can sponsor you, there have been organiser who looks fwd to a certain cut. It was so unfortunate to see that we would Travel with Rajmata sa and yet people would think that being a dancer we are available, just think how low other dancer women must be treated. Sad but true.

Expresso: What advice would you give to women in this international women’s day?

Jyothi Tommaar: All I want to say that women have always been Empowered. It’s Us the Shakti, we don’t need someone to help us get Empowered. They cal us Devi and celebrate Women’s day, but women get raped and brutally beaten and suppressed on a daily basis. It’s time need to find the strength within. We need to groom our Son and the men around us, so they get ready to handle Empowered women. We don’t need men to protect us but we need Men to respect us and learn to let us express ourselves and do what we want. So just be who you are and the world is all your.

Vrutika Dawda (Director at IdeateLabs, a digital marketing agency)

Expresso: Today is International women’s day. In your experience as a successful woman, what is its significance?

Vrutika Dawda: I have never let gender discrimination distract me from achieving my goals. A strong and very dominant belief that women are not risk-takers and opinionated has completely changed today. I believe that the first step towards success begins by inducing self-belief and overlooking all kinds of stereotypes that pose as growth barriers. It is time for women to find their voice and own it. Know what you want and work towards it passionately.

 Expresso: What advice would you give to women in this international women’s day?

Vrutika Dawda: ‘Women don’t get enough opportunities’, this is another very popular stereotype in the industry but I truly believe that one’s work does all the talking. At IdeateLabs, we ensure that women get equal opportunities because performance and determination have nothing to do with gender. Stereotypes have always been prevalent in our industry but keeping our focus, believing in what we really want to achieve and to be known for, is how we shrug them away. An equal opportunity employer is what we are.

Aasiya Kazi ( Tv Actress)

Expresso: Today is International women’s day. In your experience as a successful woman, what is its significance?

Aasiya Kazi : The significance of this day varies from women to women. If women are making strong groups or bond with each other there’s nothing in the world can harm them. And I feel that the bonding should start from yourself within. So make yourself strong and independent, do whatever you love. It’s not necessary that women who are going outward for work are only being called strong, even housewives are much stronger than any other women. So you must do what you love and that’s how you became strong.

Expresso: What advice would you give to women on this international women’s day?

Aasiya Kazi: I would just like to tell them that, do whatever you want and live your dreams. You might have descriptions, difficulties, and barriers in your way, don’t worry just be strong. If you had a dream just go out there and fulfil it.

Punam Kalra (Interior Designer)

Expresso: Today is International Woman’s Day. In your experience as a successful woman, what is its significance?

Punam Kalra: Woman’s Day, for me, is a day where everyone takes some time to pause, reflect, appreciate and celebrate each woman in their lives, and everything they do for each other. I believe that each day should be lived like that, but it’s nice to have a devoted day to honour women and spread awareness to enable gender equality.

Expresso: What barrier have you faced as a woman in becoming successful in your field?

Punam Kalra: I faced my own set of challenges when I initially started working. Though I was always comfortable with the designing and daily management, handling the factory work and workers was tough and demanding. Since I was new to the field, it was a slow learning curve for me to break the ice, be taken seriously, and bring aesthetically innovative yet technically sound ideas into reality. I eventually found my own way to develop mutual respect and understanding with my employees and ended up with a strong and reliable workforce, who are almost like a family now.

Expresso: What advice would you give to women in this international Woman’s Day?

Punam Kalra: Women, now, tend to block their creative life flow by adapting qualities contradicting their basic nature, while chasing their dreams in this highly competitive world. We need to rather play to our own inherent strength, having an all-encompassing and inclusive approach to life. Women are natural providers and caregivers, with a much wider role in our social dynamic, and need to remember that our strength lies in their tenderness and sensitivity. Truly fierce women are soft and intuitive, who move ahead not alone but carrying their entire tribe along with them.

Shifaa Kalra(Architect )

Expresso: Today is International Woman’s Day. In your experience as a successful woman, what is its significance?

Shaifaa Kalra: I feel it is very significant in both addressing the gender-based issues prevalent in the world, and also acknowledging and embracing the growing ideologies and power of the modern women. I feel we have finally reached a point in this conversation, where a woman doesn’t need to “be like a man”, or do things “like a man” for her to be treated equally. The modern woman defines her success on her own terms, while fiercely embracing her feminity and bringing new roles and social dynamics into place. This Woman’s Day, as per me, should be about breaking conventional thought barriers, and understanding that both, the softness of intuitive beauty and the power of practical usefulness, need to coexist within every woman.

Expresso: What barrier have you faced as a woman in becoming successful in your field?

Shaifaa Kalra: I have been very fortunate, and haven’t faced any significant gender-based challenges in my professional journey yet. I feel a lot of credit for this goes to the tremendous strength and support I receive from my family, who has been a constant guiding force in every step that I take forward. I believe that clear, structured and effective communication, along with a little patience and focus, is the key to work our way out of difficult situations and keep growing in the intended direction.

Expresso: What advice would you give to women in this international Woman’s Day?

Shaifaa Kalra: My only advice to all the women would be to remember your own power, and that hard work and focused perseverance go a long way to achieve one’s goals. One needs to respect the other’s choices and point of view while balancing it with assertiveness about their own thoughts to create beneficial conversations and successful projects. This life, after all, is all about getting out of your own comfort zone and pursuing ideas that you are passionate about.