Monday Musings: Women take over Prayas and no one minds
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By Amitabh Srivastava , Copy Edited By Adam Rizvi, The India Observer, TIO: International Women’s Day: The Prayas JAC Society Headquarters at Tughlakabad in New Delhi was literally taken over by women on March 7, one day in advance of International Women’s Day on 8th March.
With branches in 13 States/UTs of India, Prayas has been working for marginalized children, women, and youth for the last 36 years—making such initiatives a routine part of its activities.
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But this time, the women co-workers took the slogan of International Women’s Day, “Accelerate Action,” very literally. A team led by Executive Director Indu Rani Singh decided to take control of the entire proceedings a week ahead, and, true to her style, detailed preparations were made to give a new twist to the normally sedate proceedings and make things “abnormal.”
To add spice to the event, it was decided that instead of having a single chief guest deliver a dull speech to uninterested children, the stage would feature three women achievers from different fields. In a novel experiment, these guests participated in an “In Conversation” session with a woman journalist, with Hindi chosen as the lingua franca so that the message of women empowerment could reach all community women beneficiaries—and the children at the Prayas Headquarters. So there they were: Dr.Pinky Anand (lawyer), Dr. Rashmi Singh (IAS), and Chhaya Sharma (IPS), all national figures and, more importantly, long-time friends and well-wishers of Prayas.
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Seated on stage in a chat show format, the guests were asked a series of questions by young journalist and media trainer Parul Jain, who had crafted spicy queries to match the evening’s mood. The guests played along with the impromptu arrangement, adding to the relaxed ambiance of the event.
Each guest was asked about personal challenges—such as growing up as a girl, dealing with male bosses, and their views on “fashionable feminism” that criticizes women working in the kitchen. Unsurprisingly, their responses were quite similar, often downplaying the challenges they had faced. They recalled feeling fortunate to have had understanding parents who never discriminated between boys and girls, and they acknowledged that competing with male colleagues was part of the package they had chosen instead of the easier option of becoming teachers, as many relatives had advised.
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Dr. Rashmi Singh, who has managed tough assignments in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as well as Jammu and Kashmir, emphasized resilience with the maxim, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” She explained that although the hurdles initially seemed formidable, they were eventually met with the resolve needed to forge new paths.
Dr. Pinky Anand, whose long career began with the Delhi University Students Union and notably included a case involving the South Indian actor Khushboo, admitted that women often have to work extra hard to prove their equality to men—but she noted that this extra effort was a choice they willingly made.
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A particularly refreshing comment came from Chhaya Sharma—the IPS officer credited with getting all the culprits of the notorious Nirbhaya case of 2012 arrested within a week. That case, which reshaped definitions of rape, sexual assault, and human trafficking in India, eventually led to the Criminal Law Amendment Act 2013 after extensive consultations with various stakeholders, including NGOs like Prayas.
When asked about her experience as a working woman with long hours—especially when told that kitchen work should be reserved for women—Chhaya Sharma offered a novel perspective. “I think there is nothing to be ashamed of in cooking. I believe that cooking should be taken as a survival skill like swimming or driving. I suggest that even boys should acquire this skill so that they are never left hungry in an emergency,” she explained.
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After this engaging interaction, the event took a fun turn with a ‘Rapid Fire’ session. Here, top celebrities of the country were playfully asked to choose between options such as Alia Bhatt and Mary Kom, a samosa and gulab jamun, or between the films Sholay and DDLJ. Each guest responded with clear, lively answers to the delight of the spellbound audience.
The evening concluded with Prayas Founder and Mentor Amod K. Kanth sharing a lighthearted moment. He recalled the first time in his life when he was completely dumbfounded, noting that from the very beginning, Prayas had been dominated by women employees. In 2025, this trend was even more pronounced, with over 60 percent of the employees being women, led by Indu Rani Singh—the highest-ranking official of the organization.
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Curated and Compiled by Humra Kidwai
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