January 2014 Issue

Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies, Pune
(A constituent of Symbiosis International University)
Women Cell Newsletter l August 2014
Celebrating She-roes
Foreword
Someone has rightly said “Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition.” We- the Women’s Cell of Symbiosis
Institute of Management Studies, Pune, believe that the idea of being woman is created by society. Some find
themselves conforming to it while others break away from the shackles of societal clichés and look inside their inner
world. Well, in this dynamic world of today, slowly but steadily, women are rising to be a force to reckon with, the world
is noticing how much untapped woman power is.
Our issue covers some interesting pieces of articles- beginning with how the Indian cinema captures the spirit of women
with time; we have indeed come a long way from Mother India to Kahaani. The ruling government has some
heavyweight women leaders who are setting a next level of leadership in Indian politics- Smriti Irani and Sushma Swaraj
are the leaders to watch out in the coming years. We cover the story of Maureen Wheeler- the co-founder of Lonely
Planet on how she made it big. ‘Lean In’, New York Times bestseller which grabbed the attention of the corporate world
last year has been reviewed in our book review section.
Our team undertook a noble initiative wherein we celebrated Raksha Bandhan by honouring SIMS’ security guards and
which was applauded by one and all in the campus. We have our biggest event- Womancipation 2014 lined up for this
month and it looks like the team is already geared up and we anticipate a great deal of participation from top B-schools
across India.
Junior Editors
Senior Editors
Renu Dhillon
Apurva Joshi
Manjeet Kaur
Jayant Kumar
Harman Sandhu
Indian Cinema - touching the lives of women
-Manjeet Kaur l Batch 2014-16
Cinema is a very powerful tool, since it reflects the ethos and ideologies of a society
through the costumes, music, luxurious items and last but not the least – characters
which enunciate the mentality, thought-process, and prejudices of the society.
Over the past 100 years, Indian Cinema has come a long way and has changed many lives. In its nascent stage, when the
first movie from Dadasaheb Phalke – “Raja Harishchandra” was made in 1913, women were still housebound, and even
the female roles were left to the male artists to enact.
As time passed by, the drift came and by 1930s women from affluent families took over reigns of the stage and the
movie business faced a huge change. Actresses like Shobhana Smarth, Zubeidaa and Devika broke the penchant and
redefined the role of women in films. These were soon followed by Meena Kumari, Madhubala and Waheeda Rehman
who brought a revolutionary change in the attitudes held by the leading ladies. It was not the case that these ladies
were paid less or treated below par; they were equals with their male counterparts.
But this glory did not come to them so easily. At that time, the women who chose to act were looked down upon by the
society. Things got slightly better after movies like ‘Mother India’ wherein Nargis Dutt played a more challenging and
substantial role.
Why is the depiction of women by movies so crucial? The answer lies in the fact that as Hindustanis we are very easily
affected by movies, be it the dressing styles, attitudes, way of speaking or even haircuts. In earlier days the ideal woman
was depicted as a shy, submissive, dependent, and fragile person covered in clothes. And the vamps of Bollywood used
to don bold outfits. This fact immediately set a mentality that women who wore full clothes and behaved like a slave
were the ideal women of society whereas those who wear short clothes and are extrovert in nature are the black sheep
of the lot.
It was in the 90’s when finally the roles offered to women underwent a drastic change. They were given much more
substantial roles and being an actress became much more than just playing eye candy and dancing around. Women
were portrayed as strong and courageous having the ability to take on men alone. This had a very good impact on the
Indian Society. Women were getting more and more liberated and independent. Women were now better educated and
had employment options open to them.
But what really redefined the portrayal of Indian women in the film industry were the releases of movies in the 21st
century like – Lajja, Page 3,Turning 30, Fashion, Kahani, Queen and the list goes on. These women centric films had the
female leads in strong roles varying from a shrewd politician to a bold journalist to a prostitute or a super successful
entrepreneur. The role of Indian Women was revolutionized in reel and real life. The Indian woman has become this
fierce, successful, dominating, independent, and ultramodern woman of today. She has come a long way from those
four walls to the global arena and has left no career options unturned. Today Indian women are heading the top roles in
various organizations, be it Government and Corporate offices or Bollywood. Today women are judged on their talent
and capability and not just because of their gender. We are looking forward to a gender neutral society.
The Ferocious Five of the ruling party- NDA
Shaliki Sharma l Batch 2014-16
Narendra Modi has set an exemplary Union
Cabinet after the historic win in the Lok Sabha
Elections 2014. The 15th Prime Minister of India
has not only taken some tough decisions over
choosing his cabinet but also showed belief in the
new talents. One of the many surprising and
unique factors of his cabinet has been the inclusion of maximum number of female ministers Here is a look at these
women in Narendra Modi cabinet.
1. Smriti Irani: (Minister of Human Resource Development) Former Miss India finalist, TV personality, the youngest
member of NaMo’s cabinet, Smriti Irani is also the youngest Human Resource Development Minister of the country. In
the past she has also been the all-India President of the BJP Mahila Morcha. This mighty woman created a stir wherever
she went and never shied away from speaking her mind. Known as a woman who dares, Smriti has lived up to that
image pretty well.
2. Sushma Swaraj : (Minister of External Affairs and Overseas Affairs) This lady has a distinctive charm and appeal
amongst the Indian public with her powerful words and persona. With her marvelous debating and oratory skills,
Sushma Swaraj has left a prominent trail in the corridors of Indian polity. Apart from having the distinction of becoming
the youngest cabinet minister in Haryana government at the age of 25, Swaraj has also many other firsts such as being
the first woman Chief Minister of Delhi and woman spokesperson for any political party in the country. The current role
of Minister of External Affairs places her in the honorable position of being part of the Cabinet Committee on Security
which last saw a woman taking charge 30 years ago.
3. Maneka Gandhi: (Ministry of Women and Child Development) A self-described environmentalist and animal rights
leader in India, Maneka Gandhi was instrumental in creating India’s Animal Welfare Ministry –a first in the world. She is
known for pioneering many developments in the area of environmental activism and her work has been acknowledged
with several awards. She was 23, when her husband passed away and she then single-handedly brought up her son,
Varun. In 1988, at the age of 33, she became India’s youngest Minister. She is enormously popular in Pilibhit as she has
won 5 out of the 6 times she has contested from Pilibhit.
4. Uma Bharati: (Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation) Referred to as “Sadhvi”.
Uma Bharti’s rise to success almost runs parallel to Narendra Modi’s. Bharti’s childhood was ridden with poverty but she
found a mentor in Rajmata Vijayraje Scindia and rose as a leader who believed in Hindutva. She has been part of the
Union Cabinet four times before being elected for the current post. She has also served a successful term as the Chief
Minister of Madhya Pradesh.
5. Najma A. Heptulla : (Minister of Minority Affairs) At 74 years and with a political career spanning almost four
decades, Najma A Heptulla is the eldest member of the Cabinet. Being the grand-niece of Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad,
Heptulla hails from an illustrious family. An eminent writer, she has published several research papers in foreign and
Indian journals and also contributed to many Indian and foreign magazines on issues relating to women and social
development. She has also worked as a member of the Advisory Committee and Editorial Board of ‘The Indian Journal of
Zoology’ and ‘Journal of Anatomy’.
Why mums are so adorably hilarious
Ankita Dhawan
Why mums are so cutely funny? “Mere paas bangla hai, gadi hai, bank balance
hai, tumhare paas kya hai?”…… ‘Mere PaaS MAA Hai’… Don’t you think all Maas
are cool and aren’t they just nurturing? I mean there’s a reason why even science
has a way of proving that and why in our ‘Mother India’ some food items like
Pulses are called ‘Maa ki Dal’ So, mums in my opinion are superheroes juggling
different tasks, excellent planners (they’ll plan in advance where all the money
needs to be spent and make you have the leftover food from the night before),
amazing cooks (no restaurant can beat your mum’s cooking) and of course
outstanding negotiators (one should seriously learn how to bargain from mothers
as buying vegetables these days can be an expensive proposition). Well my mum
should write a book on that one- ‘how to master the art of bargaining’; she’ll
definitely sell 200 million copies of it, for sure. Now here’s why I think most mums
are funny (pardon the pun please);
If you do something that she disapproves of and snap back at her, saying “why do you have a problem with everything I
do?” her probable response to that kind of a retort would be “of course I’m always the villain of the house na”. When
you come back to your house from school, college or work and ring the bell, she’ll open the door and say “ghar
aa gaye beta” ignoring the obviousness of the situation.
When you question her habit of being overprotective about you, she’ll first spin a yarn of emotional drama and
then say “when you become a parent then you’ll realize”. Well in my case I always tell my mum that realization
won’t strike me until the next ten to fifteen years, till then you need to change your dialogue every now and then , I’ll
get bored of hearing the same thing.
If you are a girl and above the age of 22, then god bless your soul! , spare your ears from hearing about marriage plans.
Indian mums can beat Sherlock when it comes to investigating your whereabouts. As far as their children are concerned
they have antennae that work as detectors and ‘beep’ big time every now and then. This is particularly true for all the
‘Punju’ moms.
While these reactions may be universal for most of our Indian moms they also stand as a paradigm of power and self
sacrifice. Power, because they literally control the entire house, self sacrifice because they compromise on a lot of things
to bring up their children. Despite the sometimes smothering love and affection, no one can love you as much as
mothers can and that is a genuine fact. So I would conclude by saying how I began (only with an extension) - mums are
superheroes without capes even though as some say they may tell themselves “I love cleaning up messes I didn’t make,
so I became a mom”.
About the Author: Ankita Dhawan
Currently studying Masters in Social Work ----writes every now and then as a hobby...Reads books ranging from
philosophy to P.G. Wodehouse------and finds humor in the most unusual, stressed out situations.
Woman of Substance- Maureen Wheeler
Harman Sandhu l Batch 2014-16
Travelling is cathartic. It makes people break free from the shackles of familiarity and exposes them to umpteen marvels
unknown till then. This is probably the reason that encouraged Maureen Wheeler, co-founder of Lonely Planet, to set
out on a journey across Europe, Asia and Australia in a car, along with her husband Tony Wheeler in the 1970s.
Relying on a shoestring budget, the tour was a rather unusual adventure for a woman at the time. The experience
helped the couple pen down their first comprehensive travel guide, ‘Across Asia On Cheap’ making Maureen one of the
most influential entrepreneurs. The very popular travel book Lonely Planet came out around two years later. While most
women juggle career and family, motherhood did not shake Maureen's love for travelling. She gained a new perspective
on travelling by embarking on a number of trips with her children. As a philanthropist, Maureen has been involved in a
number of educational and health projects in the developing countries. She won the prestigious Business Woman of
Australia award in the year 1999. Apart from providing impetus to entrepreneurial inclinations, Maureen Wheeler’s
travel book has transformed travelling from being a distant dream to an attainable reality.
Lean In- Women, Work, and the Will to Lead- Review
Renu Dhillon l MBA 2014-16
Sheryl Sandberg’s book, Lean In provides some cutting edge take on the current crisis which is being much talked about
in the corporate circles round the globe- why there are very few women leaders? This book is a guide for all those
aspiring women who want to make a mark and for men who are willing to be equal partners in the business of
relationship.
So who is this new kid on the block incessantly advocating about corporate feminism. Well, Sheryl Sandberg is the COO
of Facebook, on the list of Fortune’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Business and TIME magazine named her as one of 100
Most Influential People in the World. In 2010, she presented a revolutionary TEDTalk wherein she explained how
women unintentionally or otherwise hold themselves back in their careers. It was a huge hit with more than 2.5 million
views and this book is an elongation of the same argument.
The Indian version carries a foreword from Naina Lal Kidwai- Director HSBC Asia-Pacific and Country Head, India who has
dubbed the book as a positive call to bring about the much awaited change in the society. The book written in an
anecdotal style which makes it a fun and convincing read thereby cleverly differentiating itself from loads of heavy
academic books on feminism. This book is a practical guide wherein Sandberg offers commonsense powerful pieces of
advice to women on how to build their career. This book puts across a few arguments like why women are paid less, why
women who make it to the top are not liked and why the feminist movement has stalled. She also shares some
fascinating insights into the corporate world.
If we talk about what Sandberg has not got right in the book- it has an elitist streak for Sandberg is Harvard-educated,
incredibly rich reportedly worth hundreds of millions, and also the book fails to mention the millions of single mothers in
the workplace. What has she got right- she has stirred a necessary conversation about the lack of equality for women,
still in the 21st century and has advocated about transforming the role of women at the work place.
News Bulletin
 In his first Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi painted the picture of a new and
bright India where women safety will be of utmost priority.
 "We were very poor. I had to help my parents as much as possible so it was a period of great
responsibility. When I decided to take up boxing, I had to hide it from my parents at first—boxing isn’t
considered a lady-like sports" – Olympic medallist, five-times world amateur boxing champion and
Padma Bhushan recipient, Mary Kom in an interview with Reader’s Digest
 SBI Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya and ICICI Bank MD Chanda Kochhar are among the five women
from India featured in Forbes' 100 most powerful women in the world. Biocon founder Kiran MazumdarShaw is ranked 92nd on the list.
 "I don't think women can have it all. I just don't think so. We pretend we have it all. We pretend we can
have it all," -- Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo's CEO
 According to a recent study conducted by Michigan State University women applying for a job in a maledominated domains should display masculine traits like being assertive, independent, performance
oriented etc in order to increase the chance of getting selected.
Raksha Bandhan celebrations at SIMS
Sandhya Sharma l Batch 2014-16
On the occasion of Raksha Bandhan, the student managers
celebrated the festival with much joy and fervour in the
campus. The day began with the student managers dressed
up in traditional attire brightening up the campus on a Sunday
morning with colours and vibrancies of the festive spirit. This
was a SIMS Women’s Cell initiative to thank our security team,
housekeeping staff and mess staff for their devout services.
We saw student managers coming out in large numbers with
much enthusiasm to be a part of the celebrations. While our
lady student managers tied Rakhi to the guards and mess staff,
we had our Director Sir accompanied by his wife and Patil Sir
distribute gifts and sweets to them. It was one of a kind event
SIMS has witnessed so far which was appreciated by all. The
Rakhi, sweets and gifts and the presence of all made this day
memorable and special for our sedulous security and mess
staff. This was possible only because of the huge contribution
from our Director Sir, Patil Sir and student managers.
Sheetal Yadav – Challenging the rule
book every day
SENIOR
WOMEN’S
CELL
Jayant Kumar Nath - Always in upbeat
mode
Apurva Joshi – Believes in making a difference
Ganesh Kashid- Victory is his Forte,
impossibility is his myth
Deepika Singh: Simplicity redefined
JUNIOR
WOMEN’S
CELL
Renu - Enjoying every bit of the
greatest show on earth
Kalyan - A happy-go-lucky
guy
Manjeet - Punjaban who loves to live
each moment as her last
Ankita - Melodramatic
Harman - An adventure-enthusiast
with love for mountains
Shaliki - Loves to eat, travel and
read- in that order
Rakesh –The silent hardworker
Sandhya – Works hard,
parties harder
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