“Here’s to strong women. May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them.”– Unknown

I am grateful and proud to be a woman irrespective of all the criticism and misogyny I have had faced in my life. I am sure all of us would have some people who inspire us, motivate us and play a major role in shaping our life perfectly. But, today being our day, I will talk about only women. I feel women should be celebrated daily and not just a single day. Woman is clothed in strength and dignity. Since years, I have seen people talking about how a woman should be or what are the boundaries for a woman. But am glad that the thinking of the society is changing and women are being given the equal opportunities as men in all fields across the globe. I have never understood the thought of the gender bias in our society. Why do people feel men are superior and in what way? Is there anything that men do and women cannot do? I doubt about it. I personally have got the privilege to have many wonder women in my life who have been the greatest inspiration in helping me become what I am today. Today, 8^th March being the special date for all women across the world as we celebrate this day as the International Women’s Day, I would like to talk about few of the most influential and inspiring women I have met in my life. There is no second thought about accepting the fact that these women are the best examples of beauty, strength, courage, love, successful, hard work, independent, resilient and the list of qualities would never end.

The Guiding Force – My Mother (K S Lakshmi)

“She stood in the storm & when the wind did not blow her way, she adjusted her sails”. This quote best describes this wonder woman. All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my mother. She has been the best and highest support in my life. I sometimes wonder if I would have been able to do anything without her in my life. Right from my childhood, I have seen her changing herself and her beliefs for us according to the time. During my childhood days, I have seen her putting her responsibilities above her interests, I have seen her giving more importance to relationships than her self-respect, I have seen her putting family before her personal life. Irrespective of all the hurdles, problems and all kind of negative vibes in her life, she always has been the strongest amongst all in the family. I have seen her struggling with her own health but has never given up on her duties. But I always used to wonder how she manages to be so active all the time with a beautiful smile on the face. For me, she always has been a perfect woman who has successfully dealt with all her responsibilities in her life. There has been time when people around her had criticised her, blamed her for no fault of hers, had let her down in many ways but she never left them. The best thing in her is she has a golden heart and has forgiven everyone for all the disappointments they have given her and moved on in life. She is the woman who is my best friend, my teacher, my guide, my philosopher and my whole world. Just thanking her for being my anchor in the stormy sea of my life will not be sufficient. I am blessed to be known as her daughter and she will remain to be my most favourite ever.

The Vivacious Soulmate – My Bestie (Harivardhini)

“Sometimes you get lucky and find a soul that grooves with yours”. A true soul mate is the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. She is that soul mate for me. She is loving, crazy, beautiful, bold, caring, energetic, genius, naughty, hardworking, independent and the list just goes on. By profession, she is the HOD in a reputed Engineering College in Hyderabad. Dr. Harivardhini, as people respectfully call her in her professional network. But for me, she is the most fun-going and the naughtiest girl in our group. She is a person who has been a strong pillar since last many years and has never stopped encouraging me or motivating me in my life. There has been times when I lost confidence in myself but this girl never gave up on me. Though all my friends has always motivated me and supported me, but this girl always has a special place in my heart and life. The reason I respect her so much is her positive attitude towards life. I have never seen her cribbing over anything in her professional or personal life. The way she handles her career, the way she takes care of her duties at home, the way she balances both her professional and personal lives and the equal importance she gives to all her friends is amazing. She starts her day with such a positivity and energy. But the surprising factor is that she will be seen with the same amount of energy and positivity at the end of the day. I cannot surely become like her in wildest of my dreams but I surely try to learn many things from her. She stands as a great inspiration for me and I feel so very proud to say that a strong and successful woman like her is my bestie for life and I am enjoying the privilege of being with her each day of my life. Her love is a strong pillar of my life. I love her so much and I am blessed to have her in my life.  

The Facsimile – My Partner in Crime (Swapna)

“Meeting someone very similar is like you both were cut from the same cloth”. The two of us are like non-identical twins, though we look different, we are like single soul in two bodies. Sometimes I really wonder how two people’s thinking is so similar. Swap (That’s how I call her) is a corporate employee and a Fitness Coach by profession. Passion is a great thing which helps you to find the best version of yourselves and also the most similar versions which can be combined together and create magic. The bond between me and Swap is the same. It’s just been few years we have met but it feels like I have known her since ages. The first most common thing in us is our passion and love for dance. There wouldn’t have been anything better than dance to get associated with this girl. Since the moment we met, we have gathered some millions of memories together, be it our dance shoots and events or be it sharing even the small and silly secrets, we both are just the carbon copies of each other. She is a few years younger to me but that has never been a bothering for either of us. I have never enjoyed my journey of dance as much as I have started enjoying it with her since last few years. She is a straight forward, fun-going and a trustworthy friend in my life. She has always been a great motivator for me in many ways. She has not only enjoyed my company at my best but also have handled me in the best possible way during my worst. She is one person who keeps inspiring me with her never die attitude. Irrespective of many hurdles and disturbances, she manages to give her time to all that which makes her happy. The best thing I love about her is she never backs me when am wrong. She will be the first person to tell me on my face that I am doing the wrong thing and she would stop me then and there. It is a blessing to have her as partner in all my crimes and vice-versa. The love and affection I have for her is infinite and there will never be anything that would change this for us.

The Conqueror – My Rockstar Bestie (Annapurna)

“She is a warrior woman. With strength, power and patience, she was all set and dressed. The way she fought on the life’s battleground, even the devils were impressed”. There is nothing stronger than a woman who has rebuilt herself. I have known this woman few years back during my temporary job as a dance instructor in an international school. When I say school, you might think she might be a teacher for some subject, right? If you thought that way, then you are correct partially. She was not a subject teacher but the Swimming instructor for the kids. If I have to describe her with her looks, she is tall and she is healthy. The first impression when people get to know that she is the swimming instructor in the school, many of them have a second thought. I have heard people expressing their doubt if she will be able to teach their kids to swim properly because she doesn’t seem fit herself. Do you really think talent has anything to do with the physical appearance at all? If so, many great sportspersons might not be successful. She is an amazing person loaded with bunch of talents within her, yet ground to earth. She had started learning swimming in her 30s and since then made it her passion and profession both. Not only she teaches swimming in school, but also has won many national and international championships in swimming and made our country proud overseas. She has been awarded with so many awards and titles for her achievements. I have known her story, her failures, her learnings, her hurdles, her hard work and her success. Believe me, it was never less than a roller coaster. But what thrills me is how this woman has always ignored all such negative vibes around her and just went ahead in her life with all the commitment and dedication. Her never give up attitude is a huge inspiration. I have seen her struggling to prove her talent with all men around in the so called male dominated sports domain. I have seen her bearing all that with a lovely smile on her face all the time. For me, she is no less than a warrior and I would not think twice in giving her that heartful salute for inspiring me and many other women like me to fight back in life. “Work hard in silence and let your success make the noise”. She has proved this to be true in her life. Recently, she has won 3 medals in the India – Sri Lanka International Meet held in Sri Lanka and made our country proud yet again. She is the true example of woman power and what better occasion can we have to let the world know what a woman can achieve in life. I am blessed and super proud to have known such a talented woman and call her as my bestie for life.

The Impeccable Artist – My Mentor (Lalitha Mam)

“A woman that is patient has the ability to endure provocation, pain, annoyance, etc, with much calm and strength”. I started believing this when I met Lalitha Mam and started to know her better. I had got the privilege to work under her guidance as a Dance instructor. But she is much beyond my guide. She is a soft, kind hearted, patient and an amazing woman. She is a trained and professional classical dancer, choreographer and guru. She is one person I have come across with so much of patience. I have never seen her loosing her temper for anything. She has faced many hurdles in her life but with all her calmness and stable mind, she has been handling her professional and personal life in a wonderful way. There is so much to learn from her but I am not sure if I can be even 50% of what she is. Though I worked with her for a very short time, she definitely will be my mentor for life. She has always pushed me to fight with my weaknesses and helped me improve myself all the time. She has always shown the concern towards me and helped me to realize my self-worth. I do not have the fate to learn dance under her and be her student but at least I have got the privilege to feel that honour couple of times. A thank you would not be sufficient to express how much I respect her and what she means to me. But definitely I would like to take the opportunity through this dedication on a very special occasion of Women’s Day to convey my heartful gratitude for all the support and guidance she has been giving me and inspiring me to be a better person every time. Thank you so much Lalitha Mam for everything. It is a great blessing to have known and be with someone so talented and kind hearted like you.

The Warrior – My Brave Friend (Bhargavi)

“She is a true warrior and you can see it in her eyes. She was not born strong; she was made strong. She was sculped to be her own hero when the world lets her down and she keeps picking herself back up”. This is the inspired story of one of my very close college friends Bhargavi. The girl I knew back in college was a bubbly, funny, caring and a lovely girl with loads of knowledge and talent. I was sure that this girl will definitely do wonders in her life as she was multitalented and an amazing person to be with. Her journey has never been easy and may not be even as expected. She has faced many hurdles and heart-breaks in her life but she has single-handedly faced them and stood strong as a warrior. I have seen her struggling physically and emotionally. But the way she has handled her life and her kids is unbelievable. At every stage, she has stood for herself and her kids like a fighter and never allowed her weakness or the low situations come in her way. With every phase of her life, she has been inspiring me with her courage and fighting spirit. For me, she is a true woman and a true warrior. She is the best example of how a woman is and should be. Her never give up attitude has earned huge respect from me. I always admired her for the kind of lovely girl she was but now I respect her whole heartedly for the brave woman she has become. I cannot be with her physically to support her and stand by her during her difficult times but emotionally I will always be there for her and she knows that. Women like her are the real sheroes of the world. Kudos to your brave soul and kind heart Bhargavi.