A GLOBAL FLEXING OF GIRL POWER

TIME’S UP FOR ASKING WHAT THEY DID IT’S TIME TO ASK WHAT YOU ARE DOING

OUR THEME FOR THE conclave this year is ‘The Great Churn’. The churn that has affected me most is the one that happened in our social order. The Time’s Up Movement. Women all around the world have united on this cause.

The India Today Conclave has also embraced this global flexing of woman power.

We have had more women leaders, thinkers, actors, sportspersons, activists, poets and educationists than ever before.

And we had a global icon, former US Secretary of State and Democratic Party nominee for the 2016 election, Hillary Rodham Clinton, who brought the conclave to a grand closing.

What is most extraordinary for me about this women is that they are a shining example of the best amongst us, not just amongst women, but all of us. Their ability to inspire can’t be confined to a gender box. They inspire us all.

And for me, the conclave added new dimensions to this movement.

Time’s Up for “global stupidity”. It’s time for Vipassana, intelligent introspection and loyalty to humankind.

Time’s up for propaganda.

It’s time for democratic newsrooms. Time’s up for asking what they did.

It’s time to ask what you are doing.

Time’s up for the over-asserted right to be offended.

It’s time to have a thicker skin.

Time’s up for crediting just our forefathers. It’s time to recognise the sacrifices of our foremothers.

Time’s up for beauty that is skin-deep.

It’s time for beauty within. Without hesitation, without a doubt.