Thank you Elaben Bhatt !

Rest in peace Elaben Bhatt! What a journey & how powerfully you showed us what listening to the #voiceinme can do! It's amazing to see how much can shift when a lawyer decides to unionize women who are self-employed in the unorganized sector to create Self Employed Women's Association of India (SEWA).

November 2nd, 2022, is when the inspirational Elaben left the mortal world at the age of 89. What she has left behind is an amazing legacy of women who are confident to dream & fulfill each of those dreams. Gentle revolutionary as she was called I love her 3 takeaways to the younger generation in this speech she gave when she received the NDTV Greatest Global Indian.

a) Poverty is violence

b) Diversity is key

c) We are co-related.

Her inspiration was when she saw the resourcefulness of these women who were earning, and enterprising, but still, because they came under the unorganized sector they had no coverage or welfare schemes that the government covered. That is when she decided to help these women and became a pioneer with SEWA which was a novel combination of a cooperative society & union together. Thus they even have their bank which today has more than 80% of their own daughters working there.

The Gandhian thoughts inspired her to make a difference in the lives of these women. She credits her childhood & growing up years in the freedom movement which became an invisible yet definite guideline to giving her clarity on what her cause should be. Starting off in 1972 SEWA today has more than 2 million women across states leading better lives & dreaming of a future for their daughters to be independent.

Was very proud when I got to listen to a few women address a conference I attended in Sabarmati organized by GAP (Global Action on Poverty) a few years ago. The confidence the women had in sharing their stories & how much SEWA altered their way of thinking & living was unbelievable! Elaben Bhatt will remain an eternal flame burning bright proving that every one of us has it in us to make a difference. Tap into yourself & the magic is in you.

Concluding with Elaben's take on Simplicity, a principle she lived her life by:

"Out of all virtues, simplicity is my most favorite virtue. So much so that I tend to believe that simplicity can solve most of the problems, personal as well as the world problems. If the life approach is simple one need not lie so frequently, nor quarrel nor steal, nor envy, anger, abuse, kill. Everyone will have enough and plenty so need not hoard, speculate, gamble, hate. When character is beautiful, you are beautiful. That is the beauty of simplicity."

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SELFI is a newsletter where I share my reflections on life. Moments where some simple elements stayed on to create a SELFI moment! Moments that force the?#voiceinme?to express. Do subscribe if you like what you read & do share it with anyone you think will benefit! I also host the Hubhopper award-winning podcast called "U n' I with Rashmi Shetty" which is all about people who listened to the #voiceinme to make a difference to the world at large which is uploaded every Friday on all Popular podcast platforms

Do get in touch if you need inputs on how to improve your VOICE & Vocal presence. For details do visit https://coachrashmishetty.com/