On 13th March Asian Voice in association with the Royal Air Force held the annual Women in Conversation to coincide with the International Women’s Day. The theme was ‘Embracing Equity’.
This year marks an important milestone in ABPL’s history as Gujarat Samachar celebrates 50 years of community service. Women have played a significant role throughout the history of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar. The first editor of Gujarat Samachar was a woman, Kusum Shah. In the last 50 years, most senior editors of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar have been women. In fact, during the last 50 years, out of 14 editors in various roles, 9 have been women.
Air Commodore Jo Lincoln MBE of the Royal Air Force delivered the opening speech (see page 17) before the panel discussion commenced.
The panel discussion was moderated by Mamta Saha, who is a Business Psychologist, Trainer, Transformational Coach and TEDx Speaker. The panellists were Nina Patel, Digital Transformation and Innovation Executive at reputed firms such as The Net-a-Porter Group, Harvey Nichols and Farfetch; Asma Khan, Celebrity Chef, Restaurateur (Darjeeling Express) and award-winning cookbook author; Dr Swati Dhingra, External Monetary Policy Committee Member in the Bank of England and Associate Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics, and Sanam Arora, Chair of National Indian Students and Alumni Union UK (NISAU-UK) and Commissioner for UK's International Higher Education Commission.
Panellist Nina Patel said, “I think equity is where everyone feels that opportunity and progression are possible based solely on merit.” She added, “A woman who I greatly admire once said to me that equality is when we have just as many mediocre women in leadership positions as we have mediocre men. It's quite a controversial way to put it, but it's true. Opportunity needs to exist equally for all.”
When asked if women can have it all, Asma Khan said, “The answer is no. I think that all of us are very privileged in one way or another. If you have enough, you need to share and help others. I occasionally get to eat a meal with my children due to the nature of my business, but I do try to balance my work and personal life. I'm probably not succeeding as much as I would like to. But I have forgiven myself. Women cannot have it all. Nor can men. They just think they're having it all.” Sharing her understanding of equity, Khan added, “I think the most important thing is how it makes you feel. Equity is about feeling respected and honoured, and not being side-lined and made to feel small.”
Dr Swati Dhingra explained where women can go wrong. She said, “I think typically what many of us end up doing is to start behaving like men. We often tell ourselves: “I'm going to shout even louder if I want to be heard, and I'm going to behave like a man.” She continued, “I feel that's counterproductive. I really hope that women don't fall into that trap, because we can end up creating the same world that we don't want created. We want female traits to be reflected in the workplace.”
Sanam Arora said that she feels comfortable in a male-dominated environment without feeling the need to fit in. “There have been many occasions when I've walked into a room full of men and felt absolutely comfortable. In order to make your presence felt you need to put forward your authentic self.”
The panel discussion was followed by a short Q&A.
CB Patel Chairman ABPL thanked the guests and the Royal Air Force for partnering with Asian Voice to host the event. He also extended his gratitude to Mehrnavaz Avari and Shalini Grover from Taj Hotels for their impeccable hospitality.
The host for the evening was Rupanjana Dutta, Managing Editor Asian Voice.
(photo credit: Raj D Bakrania,
PrMediapix)
