Women On Top
Meet the top ten women changemakers from the city.
Dipika Pallikal Karthik, 25 SPORTSWOMAN
Dalong IPIKA PALLIKAL KARTHIK IS A SQUASH PLAYER, THE FIRST TO BREAK into the top 10 in PSA Women’s ranking. She has won several titles in the international circuit and was the first woman squash player to receive the prestigious Arjuna Award. She, with Joshna Chinappa brought home the country’s first Commonwealth gold medal in the sport.
ON GENDER DISCRIMINATION IN SPORTS
From a very young age I had heard of families that wouldn’t let their daughters play a sport and encouraged their sons in the field instead. Fortunately for me, we were pushed to do anything we wanted. When I made it to the nationals, the pay disparity between men and women struck me. We pay the same fee for our education, put equal amounts of work and train as hard in sport, then why don’t we get paid the same?
Sharan Apparao, 54 GALLERIST AND ENTREPRENEUR
A WELL-KNOWN NAME IN THE art scene in the country, Sharan Apparao took her first steps in the industry with a curated exhibition 34 years ago. She owns and runs Apparao Galleries, and was named one of the top women entrepreneurs in India by FICCI. However, she feels that she has a lot left to do. She plans to return to working in the field of arts history and outreach, and building a think-tank of sorts across disciplines.
ON WOMEN IN ARTS
I think being a woman in the arts is often an advantage. You can get away with more edgy ideas. Besides, women are more intuitive and that is a huge asset in our field. It has helped me a lot in getting where I wanted to. I did have a first mover advantage in the city, but I can safely say that the industry has lesser gendered problems than the others. The one thing I often notice though is that women are less likely to play corrupt political games in a work environment, something that comes more naturally to men. Women at work are more upfront.
Mangai/ V. Padma, 57 THEATRE ARTIST AND ACTIVIST
MANGAI IS AN ACTIVIST, THEATRE PRACTITIONER, academician and a writer who was once part of AIDWA (All India Democratic Women’s Association). She founded Chennai Kalai Kuzhu that performed street theatre to raise awareness of several social issues. Her acclaimed book, Acting Up is a preliminary mapping of gender and theatre in India.
ON CREATING GENDER LABELS
The space I have tried to create is where we (women) can be ourselves. I don’t claim to have achieved it yet though. When I was working as an actor, late hours were a major issue. I didn’t want people living around me to build stories, so I would ensure every male actor who dropped me home would have a conversation with my husband at the door before he left. The society hasn’t changed much even now. Earlier women had no visibility, so we had to create visibility for ourselves. More visibility still doesn’t guarantee space or respect. Having arrived here can often make it more complex. I am often seen as someone doing ‘theatre for women’. Though I have no problems with labels, but when done for the purpose of seclusion, it is offensive.
Shruti Nair Reddy, 33 CEO, ANANTA GROUP OF SPAS
A SOFTWARE PROFESSIONAL WHO JOINED THE family spa business, Ananta Group of Spas, Reddy brought a host of changes to both her chain and the industry at large in the city.
From using organic products to creating an atmosphere that encourages women to come to spas, and all the way to attending customer complaint calls on her own, she has done it all.
ON CHALLENGES IN THE WELLNESS INDUSTRY
In the wellness industry, being a woman can actually be a good thing. When customers know that it is a woman running the show, they almost always feel they are in better hands. They are assured of cleanliness at the centres and are aware that there will be a lot of attention to detail. Since most of our employees are women, it also helps me understand their needs better. They feel more comfortable talking to a woman too. However, until a few years ago it wasn’t common for women to get into the business. At conferences I would find myself surrounded by men. And since the spa business didn’t evolve initially, we would get all kinds of requests including men asking for female therapists and sexual favours. We tackled this by employing bouncers at each of our centres and providing accommodation to our staff so that they are safe even after work hours.
Sarada Menon, 93 FOUNDER, SCARF INDIA
ONE OF INDIA’S FIRST WOMAN PSYCHIATRISTS, Sarada Menon was the first woman superintendent of Government Mental Hospital, Kilpauk. She brought many positive changes to the hospital at a time when treatment of mental illness was associated with large social stigma and the treatment was primitive. She founded the Schizophrenia Research Foundation (Scarf) in 1984, and was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1992.
ON LIVING ON YOUR OWN TERMS
My family didn’t want me to become a doctor. My father suggested that I take up a degree in Zoology. But, when I went to the Women’s Christian College (WCC), I asked them if I could study Physics. Everybody suggested I get married like other girls my age. Even my professor suggested I take up a specialisation in cardiology and not psychiatry.