25^th March 2011

2011-03-01   23:10:41

Silicon India is a company devoted to technology. I am a member on the website and I have been visiting their annual event for women for the past two years. The event is held all over India simultaneously, with the same topics, but different speakers, all specialists in their own fields.

While I found all the panel speakers extremely useful, a few sparkling diamonds caught my attention. Lynn DSouza, Chairman and CEO, Lintas Media, Ameera Patel, CEO and ED Metropolis, Shilpi Kapoor, Founder Director, Barrier Break Technologies, were some of the eminent speakers on that day.

While I was overawed by Ms Dsuoza’s unassuming style, Ms Patel and Ms Kapoor, the entrepreneurs of the event, were great to watch.

While the discussions from all present were productive, the day certainly belonged to women entrepreneurs of India. Alpna Doshi of Reliance and Ramani Shetty of TCS also made some heartfelt comments.

The whole day was dedicated to women, how they work, how they break the glass ceiling, how they turn adversity into advantage, how they juggle home and work, and still come out tops.

It was great to watch Shilpi Kapoor talk on her passion for providing succor to the disabled. It was even more animating to hear an introduction from the very impressionable Alpna Doshi of Reliance. But the star of the event was Ameera Shah, a Harvard graduate, who started working on her own several years ago, and helped to expand her dad’s pathology business. While most speakers decried the fact that women are not adequately represented in top jobs in India, many of them made equal noise abut the few changes that the Corporate Sector has made in order to retain talent in Indian companies. But the sad fact is that poaching occurs a lot in the corporate space, and workers and officers are often bought over by competing companies.

 All through the sessions, the importance of women workers was stressed out and out. Many speakers were evidence that women are taking over the corporate ladder and fast.

While certain points were raised about whether women help women, whether women are their own enemies, or varying styles of leadership, the sessions were useful and helpful too.

Most of the speakers stressed on the importance of networking, making personal ties with colleagues, and some like Minal Deshpande, VP, Deloitte, also stressed to get mentors and confidants for professional success.

Most of the speakers stressed that working with people required trust. Ameera Patel went on to say that women should love what they do, delegate and also share work at home. She stressed the importance of flexible timings in an entrepreneurial career.

On the whole, the Summit was an intriguing experience where many women were seen exchanging cards, numbers and networking at a rapid pace. It was a wholesome experience, with good ambience at the MS Subbulakshmi Hall, good food , and greater food for thought.