International Women's Day -Personal Reflections

International Women’s Day – personal reflections

March 8th is celebrated as the World Women’s Day. For me and my family, there is another reason for this being a special day; we celebrate my father’s birthday on the same day.

I don’t treat it as a coincidence, as later when my parents started a family – they had three daughters and two sons; somewhat helping to correct the gender imbalance in population our Indian society faced at that time. My parents living in a small college town of Bihar, in India, not only ensured that we all get the best possible education available within their means, but more than that, taught all of us to dream big. At a time when it was the norm for women to get married young, they ensured that my sisters stand on their feet before they take their vows. My mother, like a rock, played a big role in cushioning the family from the pressures of societal norms.

Having grown with three elder sisters, the atmosphere at home was inclusive and I fondly remember a lot of discussions and debates around the dinner table on gender issues, specially when the society at that time ( and even now) had different yardsticks of behavioral norms for men and women. I could not fathom then, the reason why my Jesuit school was open to female students only till primary levels. The school later corrected itself by allowing coeducation for all grades. And yes, by God’s grace, my sisters are all strong women, doing well personally and professionally.

Later in life, I married a very special woman, who has been more than an equal partner. Her sense of propriety, integrity, and discipline has been infectious. She is more qualified than me; both in terms of education as well as life skills. My work has made us move nine times in our nineteen years of married life. My partner’s strength and flexibility has been the reason why we could live and soak in the nine cities across the five countries where we have lived till date. She has taken pains to ensure that her skills are shared with the society, she has taught at universities and remains meaningfully engaged even as we have moved so many times. I attribute a big part of my little success in life to her as well.

In the last decade, I have experienced the joys to see my little daughter grow. I love the way she plays the conscience keeper for all of us at home, in terms of appropriateness of behavior, language use or judging between right and wrong, all at a young age of ten. I still struggle to answer her questions on why sportswomen, in games like Tennis and Cricket get paid less or why there is no IPL for women. However, when I see her stand tall and share her views strongly, demonstrating her strong ethical character, I feel proud and optimistic, both as a father and a citizen of this world.

Having the privilege to work for an organization which is committed to ensure gender diversity, I have the honor to work with some very special and strong women. I strongly feel that this relentless passion for diversity, has helped our company to be more successful, inclusive, and a better place to work. Women make half of our Consumer base and Talent Pool and we must have a similar representation in our workforce. I can confidently say, with my own experience of working with so many awesome women colleagues, that they make amazing leaders. Leaders who not only care for the organizational success, but also care on how that is achieved. No wonder, numerous studies show that Organizations with a gender balanced workforce are more consistently ethical, effective, and sustainably profitable.

At Coca-Cola, we made a promise to ourselves, that we will do our bit on ensuring gender balance in all aspects of life. We made a promise of training 5 million women to be entrepreneurs by the year 2020. In the last eight years I have been part of these amazing sessions where I have seen thousands of women learning the basics of becoming a successful retailer. These women retailers are few are far between and it dawns on me that there is a lot to be done for our society to achieve true gender neutrality. 

One thing is certain, whenever I happen to visit a retail outlet being managed by one of these successful women entrepreneurs, the Coke they sell, always tastes special.

General Disclaimer : Views expressed in my blog posts are personal reflections and don't necessarily represent that of the organization I work for.