There’s something more than infectious about their energy. Old ideas gain strength and new ideas take course when they meet and that’s what happened when members of CII IWN met at The Astor Hotel Kolkata to raise a toast on International Women’s Day. Curated by Paromita Ghosh, director of Candid Communication, the evening saw love, laughter and great camaraderie to stay united and empower women. “I think it’s a day when we should talk about women who still don’t have a voice and since we are in a better space it should be about lending hands to them and empowering them. With CII IWN we have organised many workshops and there are many things we can do together,” started Paromita.
Rupa Majumder of Raunak Publications and Suniti Khastgir, artist and curator, who also works with specially-abled women, talked about every day being women’s day. “I am my mother’s daughter, who was the first lady judge, and I come for the family where women got importance. So for us, every day is women’s day,” said Khastgir. “We have to face struggle every day and overcome it every day so every day is woman’s day and we should celebrate the womanhood in us,” backed up Majumdar. The event was also an informal farewell to Sriranjini Joshi, CII IWN outgoing chairperson who set a benchmark that everyone talked about when they spoke about the theme of Inspire Inclusion.
Moving forward, author Sreemoyee Piu Kundu reminded everyone of the genesis of the day. She said: “Women’s Day has come a long way but do we know why we celebrate the day? It was the day when textile workers in New York protested against unequal pay and spoke up against being kept for longer hours. They marched at the cost of losing their jobs.” Talking about diversity and inclusion, she said: “On this day we should look at various journeys of womanhood, also women like trans women… the definition of women is so much plural and diverse.”
The guests were welcome with a refreshing drink
Dr Rupali Basu, MD of Woodlands, who though is not part of CII IWN but is known as a strong voice in uplifting women, talked about changing the dictionary meaning of working women and bringing equality among all working women. She said: “We should focus on working with other women and helping them succeed. Taking care of the home front is also work from home and the dictionary meaning of working women needs to be changed. I don’t want to differentiate between working women at home and working women in office. The only thing is there should be some sort of equality.”
Smita Chatterjee, a technology entrepreneur who is passionate about saris, spoke about building a new cost-effective software called Whistle Blower. “It takes care of the anonymity of the complainant and the person can report harassment and assault as well. It is important for the safety of women,” said the CEO of Centreax Technologies. Restaurateur Sonika Dey talked about building her brand Bunaphile. She said: “I was very keen to work with the heritage properties of Calcutta, building on the history and treasure of Calcutta. I am looking forward to joining the group and be a strong voice in supporting other women out there.”
The other panellists included Dr Indrani Lodh; Shoma Basu, ex-banker; Preeyam Budhia of Patton Group; Shilpa Chakraborty, founder partner of Tribe; Madhulika Kanoria, director of SREI Foundation; and Swagata Guha Mustafi, an interior designer, who spoke about their experiences in the organisation and discussed ways to empower more women.