Proud to be a woman

'Where do you buy your lovely saris from?’
It’s a question we women hear everyday, or something like that. Where do you buy your clothes from? Your shoes? Your lingerie? Your grocery?
But when Meera Sanyal, ABN Amro (India) head asks such a question to Naina Lal Kidwai, the first Indian woman graduate from Harvard and HSBC country head on a national TV programme, it goes beyond the realm of the mundane.
Because, if Meera wanted a straight answer for her question (she got it though…”handloom saris”), she would probably have been discreet and not chosen a platform like NDTV’s Your Call. But what Meera was actually doing was making a statement about herself and women like her—super-achievers who reached the top not because they are women but despite being women. She was telling all those women watching the show ‘c’mon you don’t have to be ashamed of your femininity.’
What a lovely message, from one of India’s high profile bankers! (Incidentally, Meera had also contested as an independent candidate in India’s last general elections). She was looking absolutely gorgeous herself, all decked up in a pretty sari, and at the same time being generous in her compliment to another woman.
Well, looks like to be successful a woman doesn’t have to be one of the boys anymore. Instead, you can succeed like a woman—with elegance and quiet confidence.
Bring out those frilly skirts and saris!