I didn̢۪t want to wait even any longer to key in my thoughts so can I have them recorded forever. The heart touching and triggering speeches are going to there with me imbibed in my heart.

I registered on siliconindia in mid of 2005; but there was very less activity; so never attempted to login after that until I received a mail about this summit which caught my attention towards this website again.

This is a second forum (first one is HR Huddle by HR@Hyderabad) that I attended and nonetheless; I feel fortunate to be there. Women 2.0; as the name goes; the gathering was of all successful women coming from different sectors. Each one who struggled their way to make it to the level where every individual would look up to. Again; none of them have given up their families or lived an uncommon life. Especially, every woman who spoke today comes from a traditional Indian family; who, to make their way there; had to convince, fight and win support of their entire family and still name their success to the family. I salute these ladies from the bottom of my heart and I consider them as my role models for, they excerpt their experiences with which I do connect. I now know that I am not alone to swim through the tough waves to reach the shore; for they have already set an example for me.



A bit to narrate about how it started:

I reached the venue before time and completed my registration formalities. I walk into this huge auditorium room which by itself sets standard for the kind of meeting it is going to be. I was part of only a 20/30 member crowd till it was 9:25 am. The room was filled with more than 200 ladies by 10:30 or so. I sat next to this lady who warmly greeted me and told me that she was a Principal till last year in a school at Jhansi; Though Andhrite; she along with her husband lived there for several years there as her husband an army officer was posted there. She moved to Hyderabad this year along with her husband for his job in Hyderabad. When I asked her what she would be doing after 20 plus years of service; she told me that she already has accepted a job to teach high school children in some international school. I don’t want to share my interpretations of this conversationâ€Â¦ I know you and I are thinking the sameâ€Â¦.

Okâ€Â¦ let me take you aheadâ€Â¦

There is this one gentle man moving in and out this room making last minute arrangements. Finally he introduces himself-Pradeep Shankar; Chief Editor of Silicon India. Pradeep along with his other team member organized the event diligently and being one man among those hundred ladies; his courtliness conveyed his respect towards the crowd.

Keynote Speaker: set the mood for the day.

As Pradeep introduced keynote speaker; I was just thrilled and tried to double concentrate to what he was saying. He introduced Ms Karuna Gopal; whom I never knew before today and she will be remembered everyday from now on when I need a solution to my problem.

As she walks on to the dais to take the podium; I see this one bright, happy and a sparking personality who has shaken our hearts by her marvelous speech. As she spoke by giving instances about how to handle problems; I gained courage not just to face but fight to progress in life. She made these points elaborating on each one by sharing how she came up with them out of her experiences. I want to imprint these five points on my every nerve as I need these words to change the way I see things

1. Barriers: One needs to jump the mental barriers; physical barriers are much easier in coparision.

2. Experts are not always correct; take a step further to do a self research and teach them. Do not blindly follow.

3. Though ground things are important; never loose the big picture

4. Be resourceful

5. Be futuristic

She reiterated that we have to remember these 3 responsibilities as individuals

1. Personal

2. Professional

3. Societal



Karuna believes that the core competency of a woman is her multitasking skill and that the best performance is during worst times. Being self-directive and a visionary about social entrepreneurship; she encourages more and more women to become part of building a balanced society.

My sincere regards to you Ms Karuna.



After we all break for tea; the sessions continued with these vibrant ladies taking the podium one after the other sharing their thoughts on various topics.



Comes is Panel 1 giving an insight into how to climb the corporate ladder:



As Seema Maithel was about to start her speech; she was trying to set her place as podium was little to high for her to see the crowd. Just then Pradeep arranged for an elevation range on which she climbed to reach the mike and she handled this with so much grace. She relates herself to the 3 Cs –confidence, collaboration and continuous learning which form her success mantra.

Pavan Uppuluri- Lady with this mystique name; she made an amazing point about how we need to take life- as a goal or as an outcome. She says that to ascend the corporate ladder; we need to build strong value systems, work along with the 2 clocks (career clock vs biological clock), manage our manager and not to be under a glass ceiling.

Rajalskshmi S; this dynamic yet so traditional looking woman set a different impression by showing the snakes and ladder board in her presentation. She states that practically there aren̢۪t any ladders which take us to the top level and we have to keep rolling the dice to face the snakes.



There comes Panel 2 who quickly talks about ‘The great juggling act’.

Amita Kasbekar: I can’t forget the simplest example that she gives ‘stop worrying about how your cook cuts karela bhaingan in order to control every little thing’ She correctly says that we do multitasking out of choice and not pressure. Other core competencies that we can add to the list; women are resilient and crisis management.

Radha Rangarajan: A research scientist, I could still connect to her as she faced all the things that I am going through right now. She says that we need to discover solutions out of our own problems; and gave example of Sunshine day care that evolved out of this idea.

KiranMai shared her thoughts on how women are different and better jugglers all the time.



One very interesting thing during the QandA.



One lady from the crowd asks the panel ‘what have you done to your husbands’. This is such a valid question I feel. All the eminent speakers spoke about children, in laws and other family members; this silent supporter was still behind the curtain until then. The crowd enjoyed their way as panel acknowledged husband’s contribution and gave tips on letting the man still be the key contributor in the family.

Again; discussion went about mother-in-law; how women have to handle this petty imbalances when aiming at the big thing.



Now is the lunch time; ladies form this long queue to reach the only serving table. There was time to network and exchange contact information. I had a good time talking to so many others.



Post lunch comes the Panel 3 who spoke about the power of Mentoring.

I think, because it is immediately after lunch; I didn̢۪t take many notes this time. Moreover, my mind was all occupied with the speeches made earlier and was kind of struggling for space to register any more stuff in there.

Roshan Joseph; Reema Gupta and Stuti Shukla; Abhinaya Vedula and Padmaja Vedula; all these ladies illustrated the importance of connecting to people and seeking their attention to move further in career. As a mentor or to mentor someone; one has to be shifting roles every now and then to create an impact on others.



Another charging discussion of the event is when the entrepreneurs took the stage. I have to say that; they are all role models for the young generation.

Shalini Kadaveru shared that after 2 attempts; her 3rd business plan is a success and they are gaining the market presence slowly.

Mamtha Banerjee explained how tough it is to be a business person after getting used to a regular income for over 10 years. She says that, unlike in profession; self starting business is a 24 by 7 job and you have to do it all by yourself. She is also new to this area and she is struggling her way through.

Mamtha- your initiative and your vision will definitely bring in visibility/success.



Anuradha Acharya- For me; she is a model of today̢۪s event.

She spoke about how her business evolved without even availability of proper resources. She discussed about the profits; the numbers which were in million dollars, etc; about how acquisitions helped her business to provide complete solutions to her customers and finally how her advisory board played an important role.

Thanks for all this information Maam.



The summit ended with the note that women have stepped into varied sectors, experimented and achieved success.



Pradeep thanks the group and promised to share the speeches and speaker̢۪s presentations through the website. So, we all can have a rewinded session later when we want.



The crowd slowly dispersed with loads of energy and will power; a dosage which I am sure will last for a long time. I am hoping that; we all benefit from this session and practice our learning not letting them just get evaporated.



Before I conclude, I didn̢۪t want to miss talking about this woman in the crowd- Ruksana. A lady with zeal to contribute in supporting the poor children in her way; she already runs a voluntary program. Maam, each drop gathers to form an ocean.



I only gave my experience about this summit. My learning from the sessions will mean anything to me each time I make progress in my career.



Thanks for joining me in my tour to the Women 2.0 summit. I look forward for your inputs and comments.