Dear All,

We are at the end of the financial year! Hope everyone had a successful year, and may you all have an even better new year 2023-24.

It feels a little different to have made Eyra quarterly, instead of monthly. But then, as they say, change is the order of the day. And change, only ups our game, keeps us laser focussed on our goals, and helps us grow further. For us at Eyra, the focus is always on the quality of our content and bringing out stories that are empowering, relatable and more importantly authentic. Now, having built a standard, we are equally committed to sustain. However that puts more pressure on us to ensure every piece we publish is only better.

So this time around, we have three stories that are very inspiring, and definitely worth their weight in gold. We attended the Gender Equality Summit 2023 organized by UN Global Compact Network India. It was a great platform where women and men from varied and successful fields came to speak about their organizations and experiences in gender diversity and equality. The main theme was Gender Equal Future: Technology, Innovation & Inclusion. One quote from the summit touched me completely, ‘It is all very well to celebrate Women’s Day, but we will have achieved true empowerment only when we don’t need Women’s Day at all!‘ I completely agree with this sentiment. Special days are given to celebrate something or someone, because on other days, we take them for granted. So let us not give ourselves the benefit of one Women’s Day, but make every day OUR DAY by loving ourselves, pursuing our goals, and helping other women achieve what they want as well. This thought comes out very clearly in Looking Ahead – Women in Workforce by Swapna Narayanan.

Completely contrary to this view, I just read in an article about the petition by Madhya Pradesh Bar Association to exempt female lawyers and senior citizens from mandatory e-filings. To which our Honourable Chief Justice of India asked, ‘Why presume women are bad at technology?’ The petition and the arguments, to me, shows what people think about women’s capabilities even today. It is time to change that image through digital empowerment.

That brings me to the story of an amazing young girl, who fights child marriages and devadasi system, staying in her village, and even went on to refuse a State Level Honour and Award because knowing her identity may undermine her work of rescuing young girls. Read more about it in The Spy who busts Child Marriages written by Anitha Pailoor and first published in Deccan Herald.

Some women inspire us by doing a lot for the society, while some inspire us by fighting their own battles so well that we learn a thing or two from them. Such is the impact of the book, Encounters of a Fat Bride authored by Samah, on me. I picked up the book on a whim, without reading any reviews, but it turned out to be quite thought provoking. It taught me that stereotypes exist everywhere and we should be more tolerant of people around us. Since yours truly has written the article herself, I will leave you, without any further ado, to read A Slice of Life – Encounters of a Fat Bride directly.

Have a great new financial year!

Yours sincerely,

Jyoti Shekar

Founder Editor, Eyra

*All images used in this article are either Eyra’s own design or widely and freely available on the internet.*