My schooling and under-graduation was in an all-girls institution where there was equal opportunity for all. I was brought up in a community in Kerala where women had a say in decisions. Later, when I went to JNU, I had my first brush with reality, where women had very less say. During classroom discussions, women who were well-read and had valid arguments would somehow hold themselves back. This made it clear that there is a stark difference in the way we are brought up, which makes us subconsciously hold ourselves back as women.
There is a complete lack of appreciation of the multi-tasking that a woman does. It becomes important for us to talk and make noise in a respectful manner. There is no need to be militant about it (feminism) unless the situation demands it, but having a conversation with a man about these issues will help them step back and reassess their mindsets.
Later, through every stage of my life it (feminism) came about. The expectations of society change as soon as you are a mother. Once I had my child, I would miss out on important conversations at the workplace, a man would not have to go through something like this. This is why we need to have more women in power to create inclusive spaces.
Communication is key, because unless they (students) understand my standpoint or I understand theirs, any sort of administration falls flat. This is something we as bureaucrats have tried to bring in - transparency and communication.
Most often, people want to be seen, people want to be heard. It is not only true of your professional life but even in your personal life, everyone wants to be seen and heard. If they’re appreciated, even better. I have been able to bring about the change I have set for myself which is to bring a transparent and friendly administration. Sometimes we do have to be strict with students, but they have realised now that when we egg them on to work on themselves it is because I mean well for them and to build them as a person. My platform has also helped students to bring forth their issues and concerns, which is something I always encourage and am happy to help with. I’ve always stressed on communication and Instagram is a part of that since it is seamless and children can voice their grievances.
The first caveat I want to give is that the government is a relatively safe space for women to work because the mechanisms are very robust. There are committees to address sexual harrassment and there are laws in place to take strict action, so it is very unlikely that a woman will not be heard, because unlike other sectors, there is a significant number of women who are in the government force.
Casual sexism and the disparity in postings do occur and I have personally fought a sexual harassment case against an officer, which went all the way to the cabinet secretary in Delhi. But, when you make a complaint and make it known, you have to face the other side of it wherein society says “Oh, she must have invited it or she must’ve been a part of it initially”. The fact remains that when you fight a battle, it is not only for yourself but for other women who are shying away from making a complaint and fighting it out the hard way. It is to set an example that relief can be found rather than waiting for something drastic to happen.
We must always teach young women that they must have a zero tolerance against harassment. As women our instincts cannot be wrong, trust your instincts and say no at the right time. As someone who has battled it, relief is possible and you have to voice it, since there are legal means to assist you as well.
We are all where we are because somebody probed the ground for us. There is always the first woman pilot or doctor, so somebody did break that ground for us to help us stand where we are. As women, we must be conscious to give back to the generation before us, not in a sacrificial manner but just by raising our voice and fighting a war—we are setting a path for many other women. For example, Arundhati’s mother fought for property rights for women and she was in her late 80s when the judgement came but she did not give up the fight.
I always tell young women that they should go beyond my achievements and not keep me as a standard for their personal growth. Irrespective of the sector you are working in, the basic gender divide is the same across all sectors. There will be discrimination and disparity, but it is not your fight alone. Many women have fought this before you and many women will continue to fight for this after you. So the important thing is to keep your voice heard and seen in the ring for all women.
Not everything can be swept under the carpet in the name of sisterhood but at the same time, because we struggle together there is a greater deal of empathy among women. It starts at a very young age when we ask the other girl to check if there’s a leak on our skirt or get one a pad, so that forms a greater deal of trust and understanding. This is why we need more women in working spaces because a younger woman will be far more comfortable in confiding with a senior woman, rather than a man. Women friendships and sisterhood hits a different load altogether.
When the batch of 2015 passed out in 2019 at NIFT, it struck me suddenly that I will not be seeing them anymore. This is when I made my Instagram account public so I am in touch with many students through my DMs and they do message with their concerns and issues. I started by writing extensively about textile and handlooms, which is a passion of mine. Simultaneously, my interactions with students started to become deeper. I wanted to share many insights with students, including effective communication skills, which I spent a lot of time building as a child. So it is quite serendipitous that I am leading an educational institution and I can give back whatever knowledge I know and have learnt.
Once, the analytics on my audience revealed that it mostly consisted of young women who are still studying or starting their professional journey. At my age, I have put in 21 years of work with the government, I look back and think about all the issues I should have known of in my twenties and that is what I communicate through my content. Even when I started doing reels, the kind of encouragement and response that came about was great. It is strange and funny that I now have an identity beyond a director or a civil servant because now I am also recognised as a content creator and I like that—that I can reinvent myself so I take it much more seriously now.
My schooling and under-graduation was in an all-girls institution where there was equal opportunity for all. I was brought up in a community in Kerala where women had a say in decisions. Later, when I went to JNU, I had my first brush with reality, where women had very less say. During classroom discussions, women who were well-read and had valid arguments would somehow hold themselves back. This made it clear that there is a stark difference in the way we are brought up, which makes us subconsciously hold ourselves back as women.
There is a complete lack of appreciation of the multi-tasking that a woman does. It becomes important for us to talk and make noise in a respectful manner. There is no need to be militant about it (feminism) unless the situation demands it, but having a conversation with a man about these issues will help them step back and reassess their mindsets.
Later, through every stage of my life it (feminism) came about. The expectations of society change as soon as you are a mother. Once I had my child, I would miss out on important conversations at the workplace, a man would not have to go through something like this. This is why we need to have more women in power to create inclusive spaces.
Communication is key, because unless they (students) understand my standpoint or I understand theirs, any sort of administration falls flat. This is something we as bureaucrats have tried to bring in - transparency and communication.
Most often, people want to be seen, people want to be heard. It is not only true of your professional life but even in your personal life, everyone wants to be seen and heard. If they’re appreciated, even better. I have been able to bring about the change I have set for myself which is to bring a transparent and friendly administration. Sometimes we do have to be strict with students, but they have realised now that when we egg them on to work on themselves it is because I mean well for them and to build them as a person. My platform has also helped students to bring forth their issues and concerns, which is something I always encourage and am happy to help with. I’ve always stressed on communication and Instagram is a part of that since it is seamless and children can voice their grievances.
The first caveat I want to give is that the government is a relatively safe space for women to work because the mechanisms are very robust. There are committees to address sexual harrassment and there are laws in place to take strict action, so it is very unlikely that a woman will not be heard, because unlike other sectors, there is a significant number of women who are in the government force.
Casual sexism and the disparity in postings do occur and I have personally fought a sexual harassment case against an officer, which went all the way to the cabinet secretary in Delhi. But, when you make a complaint and make it known, you have to face the other side of it wherein society says “Oh, she must have invited it or she must’ve been a part of it initially”. The fact remains that when you fight a battle, it is not only for yourself but for other women who are shying away from making a complaint and fighting it out the hard way. It is to set an example that relief can be found rather than waiting for something drastic to happen.
We must always teach young women that they must have a zero tolerance against harassment. As women our instincts cannot be wrong, trust your instincts and say no at the right time. As someone who has battled it, relief is possible and you have to voice it, since there are legal means to assist you as well.
We are all where we are because somebody probed the ground for us. There is always the first woman pilot or doctor, so somebody did break that ground for us to help us stand where we are. As women, we must be conscious to give back to the generation before us, not in a sacrificial manner but just by raising our voice and fighting a war—we are setting a path for many other women. For example, Arundhati’s mother fought for property rights for women and she was in her late 80s when the judgement came but she did not give up the fight.
I always tell young women that they should go beyond my achievements and not keep me as a standard for their personal growth. Irrespective of the sector you are working in, the basic gender divide is the same across all sectors. There will be discrimination and disparity, but it is not your fight alone. Many women have fought this before you and many women will continue to fight for this after you. So the important thing is to keep your voice heard and seen in the ring for all women.
Not everything can be swept under the carpet in the name of sisterhood but at the same time, because we struggle together there is a greater deal of empathy among women. It starts at a very young age when we ask the other girl to check if there’s a leak on our skirt or get one a pad, so that forms a greater deal of trust and understanding. This is why we need more women in working spaces because a younger woman will be far more comfortable in confiding with a senior woman, rather than a man. Women friendships and sisterhood hits a different load altogether.
When the batch of 2015 passed out in 2019 at NIFT, it struck me suddenly that I will not be seeing them anymore. This is when I made my Instagram account public so I am in touch with many students through my DMs and they do message with their concerns and issues. I started by writing extensively about textile and handlooms, which is a passion of mine. Simultaneously, my interactions with students started to become deeper. I wanted to share many insights with students, including effective communication skills, which I spent a lot of time building as a child. So it is quite serendipitous that I am leading an educational institution and I can give back whatever knowledge I know and have learnt.
Once, the analytics on my audience revealed that it mostly consisted of young women who are still studying or starting their professional journey. At my age, I have put in 21 years of work with the government, I look back and think about all the issues I should have known of in my twenties and that is what I communicate through my content. Even when I started doing reels, the kind of encouragement and response that came about was great. It is strange and funny that I now have an identity beyond a director or a civil servant because now I am also recognised as a content creator and I like that—that I can reinvent myself so I take it much more seriously now.
.png)
