I think power is empowerment. Power is being in control of your life. Power is maintaining the balance even if you are torn between a hundred things. I think women are naturally gifted with respect to getting their work done efficiently even if they are in the thick of things.
As I see the number of women in offices across urban India increase every day, it pains me that women in villages still don’t have access to education, which is their fundamental right. If you don’t educate the girls of a nation, then you are not empowering the nation.
Education is the key, and that is why I emphasise that it has to reach the girls. The boys in any village have the advantage of being the preferred sex. Education will help change that notion.
My education and upbringing have left me with the mind of a 23-year-old even though I am 49. I still feel excited when I see my office girls in action, coming up with ideas and questioning my decisions. I have told them to question me, and to point out anything they don’t agree with. I love that.
That is how we sharpen an idea and get going on a project. Sometimes I marvel at the way my girls work tirelessly, with the same amount of passion that I have. And I am happy that I am still learning from them. I have told them that they are not doing a good job if they don’t contradict me.
I love contradictions and the ideas that come out through brainstorming. It amazes me that when everybody sits together and talks about an idea, a new one comes up. That is education for me.
Talking of myself — let me tell you that I love problems. If there are no problems then I get jittery, nervous. I had taken a few days off, and only yesterday did I called up my office to find out if everything was okay. To my horror, they said, ‘Ma’am, everything is just fine’. That is not the line for me.
I love problems because they challenge me. A challenge that will make me come up with a solution again. A solution that will make me learn something new again. That would be a learning nobody else can give me.
Zarina Mehta, chief creative officer and board member, UTV Group
Comments
