Friday, January 30, 2009

Roxana Siu: Hyderabad

Of all the conferences, I felt that the one we attended in Dhruva College was the most interesting, engaging, and intellectually stimulating. I believe the structure of the conference was the most effective, because instead of a panelist presentation, it was more of an informal discussion group. The rapport, age range and diverse job field between each panelists, held my attention and interest, and I just simply enjoyed what they had to say. It was interesting to note that the discussion was very positive about women empowerment and women leadership, and if there was a focus on the negative, the answer was always hopeful. There was a constant reference that barriers to women do not exist and to believe so is the barrier. These women do not believe that there are gender differences and that there are ample opportunities for women in the fields of journalism to healthcare. What fascinated me the most was how these powerful women would consciously lose the upper hand to their husbands just to keep the home life stable and conflict free. They find it necessary to allow their husbands to take control, which in my opinion, contradicts what they represent and their very own beliefs. Their validation in doing so is that it is difficult to balance the work life with the home life and in order to succeed within their career; they have to make the home life secure and stable. I can understand their point of view on that matter, and it makes me wonder if I would do the same or if all high powered women do the same. It would have been even more interesting if there were men leaders involved in the discussion, to get a wide range of discussion, issues, and debates, but then that conference would have been extended to the whole night! After the conference we were invited to attend Dhruva College’s commencement ceremony and it amazed me that majority of the gold medal recipients were female and it made me strangely proud that I witnessed evidence of women surpassing men, on what is deemed as a level paying field-education.
After the resort stay in Hyderabad, We celebrate Pongal at IBS and that was incredibly fun! I learned a very interesting part of Indian culture and am still touched and amazed how inclusive the student body was, to be a part of their celebration.