Bringing her story to you…

Above all be the heroine of your life not the victim—Nora Ephron www.womensweb.in

The past week, I have been living the aftermath of the Shero summit, seeing remarkable women, achieving remarkable things facing remarkable challenges. If the hero of Joseph Campbell’s hero’s cycle has to break his own comfort zone, the Shero’s challenges are not only her own comfort zone, it is also breaking the prototype and the unwritten rules of the society that she must deal with.

One remarkable Shero that I met was Shraddha Sharma, her profile said she was from Bihar, now immediate thought was oh! No not one more of the North Indian young upstart. But her story could be any girl in India of any generation. I thought generations are more generous but not really.

She remembered trying to achieve and being told to stay in her place.  And pray what is her place, until she is married it is decided by her socio-economic background, and believe me the middle class girls pull the short straw.

After that it her status seems to freeze on being Mrs.XYZ.  Yes even to the day, unwritten rules like,

1. Wife tends the hearth.
2. Wife does not earn more than the husband
3. Wife is not more qualified than husband.

We also have a prototype for the woman who succeeds, girls who are to do well in careers, have to turn into men, I mean if no make up and androgynous clothes are choices without compulsion then  its fine, but girls who do bother to look like men are automatically labelled less, brainy, less geared to hard work and their achievement always seems to be an accident.

More important we have a prototype for success, you have to have the right parents, go to the right school then join the IIT/IIM  fraternity go to the US  marry the boy from your backyard chosen by your parents that is your moment of crowning glory.

Basically like Shraddha Sharma shared through her journey most of us go through these question

• Do I belong to the fraternity that I have stumbled into—so we go just that little step more to belong.
• Do I deserve the success I have – so we go just that extra step to prove to ourselves and the world that we belong.

Shraddha Sharma, Tanvi Dubey  and your charming intern(apologies I forgot her name.)of http://yourstory.com/ thanks for documenting the journey of so many women.

Saluting the Sheroes—

Tanvi Dubey   Yourstory media

Deepa Govind  homepreneur   http://homepreneur.online.con

Anu Krishna   Head Business Development         www.citrya.com

Sweta Shahi   Scrum Master                www.srijan.net

Minal chatterjee   Freelance Communication Consultant.

Tavleen Mehendiratta         founder             i-mobility.org.