This initiative is the brainchild of Dr. Bala. V. Balachandran, Founder Director and Honorary Dean of Great Lakes who in his life was deeply influenced by three important women – his birth Mother, Mother Teresa and Mata Amritanandamayi. He started SWIM last year to pay homage to womanhood and give a forum to accomplished women from various walk of life to inspire and motivate future managers of the country, especially women. And in its second year SWIM is beginning to realize the vision of Dr. Bala as this year itself, it had 41 teams coming from various parts of the country to participate in the event.
The event comprised of power talks from eminent personalities like Dr. Kiran Bedi, Director General – Bureau of Police Research and Development, Ms. Mallika Srinivasan, Director – TAFE, India, Ms. Jayashree Ravi, Proprietor – Sri Paalam Silk Sarees, Chennai and daughter of the Silk King of India, Mr. Nalli Kuppusamy Chetty and Ms. Indra Subramanyam, Managing Director of Ehlrich Laboratories, Chennai.
Dr. Kiran Bedi, mentioned the need for synergy between men and women. She came out with 3M’s and 3H’s theory which is about innate strengths of Men and Women. Addressing future women managers of Great Lakes she said “In a man’s world, you have to acquire money, muscle power and mobility if you want to succeed like men. At the age of 12, I acquired mobility with my tennis racket as I travelled all over India to take part in competitions. I had short hair and used to wear slacks, so that I could pass off for a boy”. She came out with strengths of women which men need to posses and described them as 3H’s. Humanity, Healing touch and Heart. Dressed in a chic, peach-coloured churidar, she says, ”We must never lose our feminity or our humaneness. I find it highly humorous that men in the corporate world attend classes and spend lots of money on courses to acquire the required ‘soft skills’ or humaneness, instead of imitating the womenfolk in their homes, who are born with that quality.”
Another point of importance brought forward during her power talk was in knowing what you want to do. She stated that being passionate about something is a pre-requisite for success. This passion when combined with the right direction will know no limits.
Ms. Mallika Srinivasan also reaffirmed these assertions and further added that sometimes your goal or path may not necessarily be making you happy or fulfilling your desires. At times like these it is critical to assess and evaluate the situation and make the changes required. In her words “Stretch yourself but be aware that too much stretching can lead to a tear”.
All the speakers gave importance to support of their families who stood by them in all trials and tribulations. Ms. Jayashree Ravi, attributed most of her success to her father, who stood by her every decision be it that of completing college or setting up her own business. Ms. Indra Subramanyam again shared the problems and challenges which she faced after the untimely demise of her husband and how she been able to create a success story after that.
Each of the women present had faced their share of problems, both personal and professional. The important lesson which all of these speakers imparted was that, no matter what the problem or its intensity, you have the strength to rise above it. Move on, stay determined and you will succeed. A common theme found running through their talks was the need for women to combine their abilities with their male counterparts and stand together instead of apart or against. This way the entire society will be empowered and its development will take place.
The event was also marked by the launch of annual SWIM magazine by Dr Kiran Bedi. Articles were contributed by Kiran Mazumder Shaw, Chanda Kochhar, Neeta Revanker, Mrinalini Sarabhai, Ambika Kameshwar, Purnima Toolsidass, Shubha Sandeep, Lalitha Maheshwaran and Prerna Gupta
Following the power talks and was a Panel Discussion. The panelists were
Ms. Sathya Shankar – Senior Manager ,Life Sciences Vertical, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Chennai.
Ms. Sri Vidhya – Managing Director, D Group Securities, Chennai.
Ms. Sushmitha Dasgupta – Assistant Vice President, Asipac, Bangalore.
Ms. Asha Mathen – Regional Head & Vice President – South and East, Deutsche Bank.
Mr. Kiruba Shankar, an avid blogger, moderated the panel.
The theme for the discussion was Women in India- How free? How equal?
All the women spoke about what they felt was the status of women in the Indian Society today. While they all agreed that progress has been made in the development of women and things have improved considerably from the past, there is still a long way to go. The concept of free and equal also differs amongst women from different backgrounds and sectors of the society. While for some freedom might be the choice to go out of the country, for others freedom might mean having the power not to get married at the age of sixteen. The panel discussion provided great food for thought.
The last event scheduled was the Quiz. The quiz was completely women centric and teased participants with smart questions.
All in all the purpose behind the event was to set the platform for successful women to share their experiences, victories and hurdles. It was also to leverage on their expertise to facilitate and inspire the new age woman. The event served both these purposes and motivated one and all to go ahead and realize their dreams. In years to come SWIM will indeed be a focal point to discuss, debate and encourage new age women to reach pinnacles of success and Great Lakes Institute of Management would stand out due to its unique contribution to Women empowerment.