A lady born 100 years before me. Someone I have
known only as a 'line item' in history texts. Her calling was social work and
nationalism - against my corporate career and comfort with
multiculturalism. These were some of the first thoughts on my mind, when The Sisters of The Ramakrishna Sarada Mission invited me to speak as part of their Sister Nivedita's 150th birth anniversary celebrations. The topic - Is Sister Nivedita relevant for today's Corporate woman?
I chose to explore the subject in three dimensions:
* Does her personality lend itself to becoming a role model for today's corporate woman?
* Are there any relevant lessons from her writings?
* What do we learn from others who have known her?
Role model for today’s Corporate Woman
We see in Margaret Elizabeth Noble (long before she met Swami Vivekananda and became Sister Nivedita) a social worker, teacher and author. She chose to excel in all fields and pioneered teaching methods which explored beyond mere instruction to real awakening of the mind. As a writer she was one of the founding members of the Sesame Club - the oldest literary club of England. She had an eclectic choice of subjects with equal affinity for physics, arts, music and literature. During these early years and later in coming to India, she exhibited the courage to follow her dreams.
What she wrote about Women
There are two significant
essays that I concentrated on to understand her position on women - 'the future
education of the Indian woman' & 'The present position of women'. I share
some of her thoughts, juxtaposing these in the context of the contemporary working
woman.
** Education
"Synthesis of history, geography and science must be achieved by both man & woman as there is no sex in truth"
She repeatedly emphasised on the need to give relevant education to women and integrate them in the struggle for nationalism. She mentioned about three elements for a complete education - Nature (science), Earth (geography) and Time (history). She had deep conviction, that every individual must understand the context of nationality by first studying the history of the land – with its divergent elements of culture, race and language. This knowledge then needs synthesis in the larger context of other Nations or the worldview. Finally, one needs to explore and understand the many elements of Nature and our interaction and existence within this space. As she put it "education and character leads to true realisation of knowledge". This focus on science and gender neutral knowledge is akin to the call, even today, for more women in coding, stem cell research and other science and engineering streams, which still remain male bastions.
** Self Reliance
"The whole of East understands the need of a woman's having pin- money. In India such matters as sale of milk, cattle and fruit are all the perquisites of the mistress of the household"
Interestingly, in her essay on the position of women, she mentions how pin-money has been an essential income and savings base for the homemaker across countries and generations. We have all been hearing a lot about this lady's hoard for the rainy day as the demonetisation news broke out. She had the vision of widows about 20 yrs of age making jams, pickles and chutneys for markets in England and America. She mentions that "main advance of women come from striking out into new professions and careers by unmarried women" a matter which requires attention, to date, in girl child education and job options. "In India we have a few women doctors and writers" she rues
** Gender Diversity
"From end to end of India, all who understand are agreed that the education of our women needs, at this crisis, undergo some revision. Without their aid and cooperation none of the tasks of the present can be finally accomplished. The problems of the day are woman's as well as mans"
In the above lines, I find her call for gender diversity in the nationalism movement akin to what we seek to achieve in Top management and Company Boards. Ethics, EQ and the capability to handle complex relationships are, even today, research backed claims for diversity.
** Women Leaders as Role Models
"In India also women have held power from time to time as rulers and administrators often with memorable success.......
The woman ruler finds a sentiment of awe and admiration waiting for her which gives her an immense advantage over a man in the completion for enduring fame"
Her reference to women leaders in an attempt to raise awareness and engagement, has a strong relevance even today. We see, Industry and HR fora engaging with and rewarding Corporate Women Leaders to encourage a sense of identity with and awareness of career direction amongst other women.
** Civic Consciousness
"Under the civic ideal, both men and women tend to be recognised as individuals holding definite relations to each other in the public economy and by their own free will cooperating to build the family"
"Regarding the civic evolution of woman as a process it is easy to see that it will always take place most rapidly in those communities and at those epochs when political or industrial transformation or both are most energetic and individuating".
Her comments in the context of bringing women into the mainstream of public life, finds resonance in today's corporate and political spheres. We all recognize that an environment has to be provided for more and more women to participate across in all works of life.
Views from her friends and associates
Exploring her relevance through the lens of others who knew her closely was my third and final effort.
Mrs J C Bose, writes about the "Great love between father and child". She mentions about her father's conviction that there will be a larger calling for her, which is, personally, closest to my heart. I believe that a father, in many ways, defines the sense of self-worth, provides the first experience of collaborative work and helps develop communication and persuasion skills for asserting presence in a man’s world. The very important vision, that there is no man or woman’s bastion, is first learnt at home. We read the same messages in what our winning Olympian trio of 2016 – P V Sindhu, Sakshi Malik & Deepa Karmakar, shared in their interviews.
A single mindedness is definitely required when you step out to break barriers. Here, we could take some learning from J F Alexander's obituary, where he talks about "work work work was her motto" and "with her passes one of those few who have made Hinduism masculine and aggressive". Mrs Bose saw in her the strength or resolve of a singular object, to serve our women as one from within. Her personality earned her the sobriquet of Thunderbolt.
S K Ratcliffe, a journalist with The Statesman refers to her comments at a debate at The Dalhousie Institute (a social club) on the subject of Marriage v/s Celibacy. A hundred years ago she gave ‘a brilliant little exposition of the contrasted and complementing views of the place of woman as mother and as individual’.
** Education
"Synthesis of history, geography and science must be achieved by both man & woman as there is no sex in truth"
She repeatedly emphasised on the need to give relevant education to women and integrate them in the struggle for nationalism. She mentioned about three elements for a complete education - Nature (science), Earth (geography) and Time (history). She had deep conviction, that every individual must understand the context of nationality by first studying the history of the land – with its divergent elements of culture, race and language. This knowledge then needs synthesis in the larger context of other Nations or the worldview. Finally, one needs to explore and understand the many elements of Nature and our interaction and existence within this space. As she put it "education and character leads to true realisation of knowledge". This focus on science and gender neutral knowledge is akin to the call, even today, for more women in coding, stem cell research and other science and engineering streams, which still remain male bastions.
** Self Reliance
"The whole of East understands the need of a woman's having pin- money. In India such matters as sale of milk, cattle and fruit are all the perquisites of the mistress of the household"
Interestingly, in her essay on the position of women, she mentions how pin-money has been an essential income and savings base for the homemaker across countries and generations. We have all been hearing a lot about this lady's hoard for the rainy day as the demonetisation news broke out. She had the vision of widows about 20 yrs of age making jams, pickles and chutneys for markets in England and America. She mentions that "main advance of women come from striking out into new professions and careers by unmarried women" a matter which requires attention, to date, in girl child education and job options. "In India we have a few women doctors and writers" she rues
** Gender Diversity
"From end to end of India, all who understand are agreed that the education of our women needs, at this crisis, undergo some revision. Without their aid and cooperation none of the tasks of the present can be finally accomplished. The problems of the day are woman's as well as mans"
In the above lines, I find her call for gender diversity in the nationalism movement akin to what we seek to achieve in Top management and Company Boards. Ethics, EQ and the capability to handle complex relationships are, even today, research backed claims for diversity.
** Women Leaders as Role Models
"In India also women have held power from time to time as rulers and administrators often with memorable success.......
The woman ruler finds a sentiment of awe and admiration waiting for her which gives her an immense advantage over a man in the completion for enduring fame"
Her reference to women leaders in an attempt to raise awareness and engagement, has a strong relevance even today. We see, Industry and HR fora engaging with and rewarding Corporate Women Leaders to encourage a sense of identity with and awareness of career direction amongst other women.
** Civic Consciousness
"Under the civic ideal, both men and women tend to be recognised as individuals holding definite relations to each other in the public economy and by their own free will cooperating to build the family"
"Regarding the civic evolution of woman as a process it is easy to see that it will always take place most rapidly in those communities and at those epochs when political or industrial transformation or both are most energetic and individuating".
Her comments in the context of bringing women into the mainstream of public life, finds resonance in today's corporate and political spheres. We all recognize that an environment has to be provided for more and more women to participate across in all works of life.
Views from her friends and associates
Exploring her relevance through the lens of others who knew her closely was my third and final effort.
Mrs J C Bose, writes about the "Great love between father and child". She mentions about her father's conviction that there will be a larger calling for her, which is, personally, closest to my heart. I believe that a father, in many ways, defines the sense of self-worth, provides the first experience of collaborative work and helps develop communication and persuasion skills for asserting presence in a man’s world. The very important vision, that there is no man or woman’s bastion, is first learnt at home. We read the same messages in what our winning Olympian trio of 2016 – P V Sindhu, Sakshi Malik & Deepa Karmakar, shared in their interviews.
A single mindedness is definitely required when you step out to break barriers. Here, we could take some learning from J F Alexander's obituary, where he talks about "work work work was her motto" and "with her passes one of those few who have made Hinduism masculine and aggressive". Mrs Bose saw in her the strength or resolve of a singular object, to serve our women as one from within. Her personality earned her the sobriquet of Thunderbolt.
S K Ratcliffe, a journalist with The Statesman refers to her comments at a debate at The Dalhousie Institute (a social club) on the subject of Marriage v/s Celibacy. A hundred years ago she gave ‘a brilliant little exposition of the contrasted and complementing views of the place of woman as mother and as individual’.
Surely then, a hundred
years later, we could actively learn from her deep intellectualism, clear sense
of purpose, indefatigable resolve to achieve her object and her prolific
writings.
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