The Hindu Business Line : `Arise Young India to face challenges'

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Hyderabad Feb. 17 Kavita (a 10-year-old barber from Andhra Pradesh), Selvanayagi and Bhuvana (auto drivers from Tamil Nadu), Asha (a bulldozer driver in Tata Steel in Jharkhand), and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director of Biocon, - One thing they have in common is that they all faced societal resistance when started scaling male bastions.

Another thing they have in common is that, now that they proved they are second to none, they want more to emulate them.

Success story

"If I can do that, any woman can do that," Kiran Mazumdar said, relating the story of discrimination, resistance, perseverance and grit that helped her build one of the well-known brands in the biotechnology sector.

"My grandmother was so disappointed when I was born that she didn't even come to see me," she told a packed hall that listened to her with rapt attention.

Film screened

Impressed by Gender Bender, a film made by Poojitha Chowdhury that was screened by CII's Young India here on Friday, Mazumdar said it was economic empowerment that would emancipate women from the shackles of poverty and discrimination.

As an entrepreneur, she faced the toughest challenge yet — bankers and financiers scoffing initially at her proposal of setting up the biotechnology company.

Tough headstart

One more thing that hurt her was the mindset of officials and governments that bracketed women along with backward classes and handicapped, while drafting special schemes.

"Now, I stand shoulder to shoulder with my male counterparts in the corporate world because of the economic empowerment I could achieve," she said.

She, then, wanted a society that was free of the social sins that were noted by Mahatma Gandhi.

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