World YWCA Day 2019: Women changing power structures

How would you classify your professional career so far? What have you learned from wearing so many different hats?

Professionally, my journey has been exciting, fulfilling, heartbreaking, exhausting and so very joyous all at once.

I loved sports and theatre when I was young.

I played basketball for the State for 7 years and I learned the meaning of teamwork.

I did theatre in school and college and learned the meaning of ‘”practice makes perfect.”

I continued to direct and act while I taught schoolchildren and I learned the meaning of Learning itself, which took nigh on 20 years!

At 40 I gave up being a schoolteacher and decided to stick to 2 passions.. horses and theatre, which I did for the next 10 years.

The horses taught me humility.

I took care of my home, my children and sundry dogs and cats and unknowingly acquired the reputation of being a dog whisperer, which I am not.. though I am an animal activist!

After the horses, I stopped working to take care of my mum, who had Alzheimer’s and lived with me till she passed away last year, and from her I learned that at 60 I needed to learn much about being an adult.

And now I work with children again, teaching them how theatre can enrich their lives.. I still care for my home and children and sundry dogs and cats and I expect to continue for as long as I can!

So, a rollercoaster ride would describe the journey perfectly and perhaps someday the details may appear in a book!

What has been the most fulfilling role professionally?

Being a teacher, of course. No contest.

The most challenging?

Working with horses, organising horse shows...again, no contest.

The Equestrian Arena in India is not for the faint- hearted, man or woman.

That was what attracted me in the first place... I had to work for change.

My teaching background stood me in great stead, for, as with children, nothing with regard to the welfare of horses can be left to chance.

I remember fighting for many things in the Federation, the most significant being the transportation of horses and conditions during shows. My most heartbreaking memory is losing a horse “ Titch” in a traffic accident on Howrah Bridge. I still have nightmares about it.

There were joyful moments aplenty... a show well done, the appreciation of foreign judges, a child’s dressage score above 60%... that was all the satisfaction I needed.

You have to be a strong person to handle so many different facets of life.

Yes, I am a strong woman. I learnt how to be so from my mother, and the fact that I was brought up in a loving middle-class home by strict Catholic parents... the recipe for strength of character.

The values I learned as a child have steered me safe thus far along with an ingrained sense of honour, integrity and loyalty, all of which I owe to being the daughter of a fighter pilot in the IAF, a most honourable man.

What is your personal philosophy?

My mother taught me that hard work never killed anyone and the more you do, the more you can do...And so, if there is something that needs doing, I just put my head down, grip the bit in my teeth and gallop till I see the finishing line!

It helps that I firmly believe that all you need to be happy is good health and a bad memory, and that I possess that most precious gift... a sense of humour!

I am not enamoured of the public eye so nowadays I often describe myself as the resident gardener, keeper of the keys and dogs, chief cook, bottlewasher and home technician...also a woman who would like to spend the rest of her life trying to reverse the abuse suffered by the planet.

Looking back, I wouldn’t sweat the small stuff, the little details. I would know that it isn’t so important to be right as to be kind.

Also, I would home school my children and not allow them cellphones until they were thirty!