"I Hope To Be Able To Set An Example For The Women Of My Town" - Celebrating Womanhood At MDI Gurgaon

On the occasion of International Women's Day 2018, we asked the women of top b-schools across India to highlight their achievements, views on feminism, the #MeToo campaign and their perception of gender inequality in our country.

Vidisha in Hindi can be broken down to ‘Vishesh’ and ’Disha’ which means ‘Special Direction’. I belong to a close-knit family in a town called Surendranagar, Gujarat. My father practices as a Civil Lawyer in the Surendranagar District Court and my mother is a homemaker. I also have a 12-year-old sister. For under graduation, I pursued an engineering degree in Information Technology and graduated with the 9th rank in my department. After college, I joined Infosys Limited as a Systems Engineer specializing in ‘Application Development and Maintenance’. I also handled the responsibility of documenting the team effort periodically. In addition to my work experience, I have
interned as an ‘Academic Associate’ with Endeavor Careers Pvt. Ltd. I am extremely passionate about the cause of education and intend to establish an educational institute for the underprivileged in my hometown. I have been active in oratory events since school days and have anchored several cultural events. I love reading books and my favourite genres include crime thrillers and romance.

I had the opportunity to work at a client site for a few months during my stint in Infosys Limited, which helped hone my communication and negotiation skills. It also made me develop an active interest in the planning and managerial aspect of the corporate world which motivated me to pursue a post-graduation degree in MBA. In addition to this, I enjoy travelling and take regular holidays with family and friends. In my free time, I enjoy playing board games, especially Scrabble and Boggle.

How would you explain feminism to a 10-year- old?
I would simply tell her that feminism is an ideology that aims to establish equality of genders.

Which female icon has inspired you the most and why?
The one person I look up to is J.K. Rowling, a woman who conquered a world dominated by the likes of those who made her use her initials on the book cover, instead of her full name, because she was a woman. Her deeply layered stories have enriched the lives of several generations of kids all around the world. She wrote these stories as a single mother who was surviving on welfare benefits and was battling clinical depression. To have risen from all these issues to the status of being one of the most celebrated authors of her time is truly an awe-inspiring feat. She also has a beautiful heart and is deeply involved in charitable causes. In fact, in 2012, she became one of the few people to drop off the Forbes billionaires list because she made huge donations to various charities. The underlying wisdom in her stories and the way she lives her life inspire me every day.

What kind of impact do you think the #MeToo campaign created? What are your thoughts and feelings about such movements?
The campaign brought to light the staggering number of females who have faced issues because of the gender they belonged to.
Such movements are definitely a step ahead in the right direction. They still have a long way to go in order to make a difference.

What attitudes towards women have you encountered by men in education - professors and students - that you wish to be corrected?
As an MBA student, an issue I have constantly faced is being accused of having it easy because of the gender diversity factor that is taken into consideration during admissions. This is a massive insult to all of us because we have worked very hard to earn a high score and earn an admission to a good b-school.

Having gotten the benefit of elite education, how do you plan to pass it on to other disadvantaged women?
I belong to a very small town where women easily give up their careers after marriage. I hope to be able to set an example for all these women. I would also like to establish crèches in my town to help out such women.