Similarly, Pabiben Rabari, Founder of Pabiben.com, exemplified strong female entrepreneurship at the grassroots level as she shared her journey of overcoming obstacles in a remote village of Kutch district in Gujarat. Starting with humble capital and driven by sheer dedication and perseverance, she proudly achieved a turnover of Rs 50 lakh while providing employment to over 300 women in her village. Transitioning to another inspiring story, Padma Shri Nouf Marwaai, president of the Saudi Yoga Committee, emphasised the power of Yoga and her victorious battle against health issues. She spoke on achieving balance and the importance of fitness in mind, body, and spirit.

From the world of entrepreneurship, focussing on education fundamental to women upliftment, Shaheen Mistri, CEO, Teach for India, emphasised on the power of ‘belief’ and ‘possibility’ and how Teach for India fellows work in remote rural regions of country where young girls are often denied education. Connecting the dots in the roadmap of empowering women was Justice Indu Malhotra, retired judge & senior counsel, Supreme Court of India, who underlined lack of implementation of the laws on ground for women’s safety, calling upon the relevant ministries to ensure that the overall redressal mechanisms function properly.

Talking about the factors limiting a woman’s chances in entering and staying put in leadership roles for longer was Dr Annapurni Subramaniam, Director of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, who emphasised the necessity for proper framework and urged men to confidently support women in taking up senior roles. Building on this theme of overcoming barriers, Padma Bhushan Usha Uthup, the versatile singer who broke significant barriers in the field of arts, shared her journey and the challenges she faced in establishing her presence in an industry where there were few takers for a deep baritone voice like hers.