Rummy is a game of skill or mere skill. True to this year’s International Women’s Day theme, #BreaktheBias, a social stigma that had piled up in many hearts and minds was shattered with an overwhelming participation, some wins were close to our heart but ultimate goal was to have good fun. Congrats to Sudha and Anila for securing first and second places respectively in the Rummy tournament.
Thanks to some timely, organizational skills and sleek event management by Sheethal (ATA Convention Women’s Sports Chair), Prashanthi Muthyala (Co-chair), Swetha, Sravanthi, Karuna, Priya, Anu, Rekha, Sunitha, Radhika, the event was a visual treat. Many thanks to Sanju for the endless supply of resources and refreshments for the event, CATS teams, Sudheer Bandaru and Deepika Boojala for leadership support and big shout out to all the ladies, their families that came to make it another spectacular extravaganza.
#quotidianblessing American Telugu Association-ATA
Godspeed
Tomorrow when we gather without you
Remembering your laughter and vibrance
There will be tears you won’t ever see
While we look craving for your glance
Of many unfulfilled dreams of friendship
And the young years you’ll live elsewhere
For all the amazing things you let us keep
Besides wishing we had more time to care
While we have many celebrations of your life
The regret that there won’t be a goodbye
Will haunt us forever in questionable strife
We will always wonder why you, why, why?
Words and actions will always be inadequate
In ways that we are unable to foresee
But we will try to be the most passionate
That you will continue to teach us to be
Being there for the ones you left behind
Is going to be the hardest act to lead
It’s our turn to fulfill what you entwined
Until our time to join you and godspeed
Rest in Heaven
Even when we’ve memories of a lifetime
There will be moments when we miss you
To come to terms you’re gone forever
Won’t make it better for any of us
But knowing that you’re immortal
Is the strength we muster to move on
That you’ll perhaps watch over us
Especially when we most need
Your absence is going to hurt so much
Regardless of the times we’ve spent
No one could ever fill your big shoes
However hard anyone could ever try
A piece of our heart burned with you
Leaving us empty and aching
If only we all had a little more time
We’d hold on and never let you go
Thank you for all the knowledge
And the pursuit of excellence you chose
Teaching so many valuable lessons
About life, love and personal relations
Despite transcending to another world
You brought us together this time too
There shall never be another like you
Rest in heaven, until we see you again!
Overcoming Inadequacies
I never felt this complete before. There are so many indequacies I’ve overcome this year although it’s not even three months since new year. It took me to overcome intrinsic, personal, unconscious biases that I harbored and the boundaries in my mind.
My struggle with infertility and the state of mind it often leads to propelled me to come to a conclusion that I am meant for many not just to parent one or two. And, to pick myself up to lead the way for topics of taboo was not easy, but here I am.
I felt like a fish out of water around traditional establishments. But with a little nudge and a leap of faith from community leaders, I have begun to explore glass cliffs with women who have limitations just like me. After delivering a successful American Telugu Association International Women’s Day event, I won’t be looking back anymore.
I am fighting my ‘Congnitive Dissonance’, wherein upon hearing my own voice in a recording, I experience huge distress. So I started to rely on constructive criticism which I was uncomfortable with for a long time. Feedback is indeed a gift!
My passion for work was transmitting as anxiety without me realizing the detriment it was causing to those around me. With little help, I am able to curtail that tension and bring a sense of calm in crises. I didn’t know my power of modulation until I exercised it.
Negative perception about me used to bother me a lot. And I spent a lot of time and energy retorting or trying to revamp my image. I realized that no matter what I cannot dissuade cynics. Now, I’ve conditioned myself to just become stronger with each gossip.
“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you’re doing the impossible.” And my goal is not to be a real life hero or be perfect but to be purposeful. To feel complete and help others to be.
#community #leadership #women #changemindset #breakthebias #quotidianblessing
Gender Equity – My Perspective
I made a lot of mistakes in my life, both professional and personal. But to be able to be vulnerable in front of those in whose shoes I was 20 years ago was the most riveting experience. Many may choose to call it ‘paying it forward’. Yet, I was the one who made the best of it. While sharing my own, I revisited so many memories and blunders alike that made me who I am today. I wouldn’t be this version of me if those didn’t happen.
Thanks to Sachidanand Angadi Sir, my lecturer at Y.B.Chavan College of Pharmacy, who is now the Principal of Yash Institute of Pharmacy, to have thought about me to be amidst his amazing students to share my sentiments about gender equity, my life journey, why I had to give up pharmacy to take my current path, life altering situations, and a little career guidance for those who wanted a perspective.
It was a rare happiness that I couldn’t express in words hearing the voice of my classmate Dr. Gajanan Vaishnav and be able to witness a monumental change of female to male student ratio. During my time we were about 1:6 but it is a 50/50 now. Thanks to Suwarna and Swamini ma’am’s support that I was able to seamlessly enjoy the virtual one hour. This wouldn’t have been possible if the pandemic didn’t let us explore options to bring the world together in some form.
“At times, our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” And I had the opportunity to be rekindled by 100+ of them. I am blessed indeed.
#quotidianblessing
Let me be…
Let me be
When I want to play in my mother’s womb
Let me be
When I want to feel visible
Let me be
When I wear blue and black
Let me be
When I don’t want to braid my hair
Let me be
When I want to be a tomboy
Let me be
When I want to be different
Let me be
When I feel various emotions
Let me be
When I hit puberty
Let me be
When I don’t want to marry
Let me be
When love is love for me
Let me be
When I want to travel the world
Let me be
When I want to wear shorts
Let me be
When I don’t confirm
Let me be
When I wish to pamper myself
Let me be
When I am defensive and loud
Let me be
When I am calm and compassionate
Let me be
When I am an extrovert
Let me be
When I don’t want to talk
Let me be
When I don’t want to get hurt
Let me be
When I don’t want to banter
Let me be
When I want to rule the place
Let me be
When you don’t agree
Let me be
When I don’t fit an honor
Let me be
When I walk away
Let me be
When I want to ink my arms
Let me be
When I want to be a boss
Let me be
When I want to rise
Let me be
Let me be
Call for Mentors
“Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will,” said George Bernard Shaw.
When I was a 5th grader I declared in front of the whole class, my class teacher, and my 4th grade English teacher about my father being a traveler alongside Gulliver (from Gulliver’s travels) and that he brought home few ‘Lilliputs’.
My class teacher, a strict nun, could’ve easily reprimanded me for ‘lying’. Instead she let my imagination go wild, motivated me to build that story, and I ended up creating little stories of my own about my father’s travels as a sailer. My father was an Academician! Because of her, a story teller was born that day.
And it is because of such amazing teachers, mentors and coaches who don’t judge, let you fail and rise, allow you to learn from mistakes, do weird things with you, and channel possibilities, people like me blossom into who we are meant to be – whether be an innovator, inventor, writer, poet, researcher, technologist, leader, doctor, business (wo)man, politician, or another teacher, mentor and coach.
WIT is in need of mentors that can help turn aspirations into tangible career paths, develop and nurture ideas, transform intent into implementation, and harness the inner potential in their proteges. Mentors are a must in everyone’s life, not just for the hyperimaginative child (like I once was) but for adults who need help navigating their professional stability and progress.
Our next cohort starts February 9th, 2022. To join as Mentor, please follow the link. Approval criteria apply. https://www.womenintechnology.org/mentor-protege-program
I Am Not Afraid
There were times
Where my tears were terrifying
The thoughts of losing love
Felt worse than death
Not that it was exaggerated
But heart had it reasons
Fear superceded all hope
Until I realized it’s matter of time
When doors close on me
I am not afraid to look
For that window of better life
Piece of that heaven on earth
Even though it is never perfect
To push myself to give my best
Despite knowing I might fall
Because getting up matters
When inner demons try hard
I am not afraid to try
Mustering all the positivity
And shut down those roads
That lead to nowhere
While making my own path
Creating those tiny miracles
Each and every single day
When there are cries for help
I am not afraid to give
Even thought I might have little
It makes a difference to help
Giving, then becomes a virtue
Like an old habit that’s engrained
Nothing is more gratifying
Knowing I’ve made an impact
Mentoring is Healing
It may sound stereotypical that my every other post is about gratitude. After many years of mentoring, I decided to be a protégé. Thanks to my leadership, Executive Women’s Forum on Information Security, Risk Management & Privacy, and my countless blessings, I am being mentored by Linda Dolceamore, PCC, EWF’s Chief Leadership Development Officer. For the first few minutes of my first session, I couldn’t speak much because of my fangirl excitement.
Despite my resilient past, apparent success, contribution to the community and having a voice that matters, I didn’t realize that I was not framing worth of my impact acceptably. While I captured all my metrics on how many this I achieved, and how many that I completed, more than imposter syndrome, it felt materialistic until I talked this through. A simple question on why those numbers matter led to my ‘Bodhi’ flash. I was fostering a deep-rooted antagonism from comparisons (not from my parents) while growing up that curtailed me from being gratified by my true value.
There were so many ‘aha’ moments during my session how even the most tough amongst us have ‘gremlins’ (in coaching terms is a habit that stops people from achieving their goals in business or life), or how we prevent ourselves being our inner champion, that reminds us of our superpower and resolve, the inner voice that prevails, and the qualitative effect of setting SMART goals. Conceivably, mentoring is healing and coaching is convalescence. And as Oprah Winfrey rightly said, “A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself.”
The Star In Me
The Star In Me — Thank you for showcasing me on your platform. And giving me a chance to make an impact. Thank you for making me a star in your galaxy.
As women, as human beings we have to be deliberate in changing paradigm and perceptions. It is easier said than done, but not impossible.
“People will sometimes put each other in boxes and have biases toward one another because of what they look like or where they come from or who they are. But ultimately, it’s up to us to decide who we are.” – Rich Moore.
#quotudianblessing
QUOTIDIAN BLESSING 