Last week, I happened to attend an all-women's meet up at ThoughtWorks, called Network of Women (NOW) which aimed at bringing women from all walks of life together. The daylong session was lined up with interesting talks by inspiring women who managed to climb one niche higher. Majority of women in the IT industry join some firm after graduation where they serve efficiently for an year or two, to later settle down tied to their marital vows, for the rest of their lives. At forties, they develop the feeling of vacuum when the ones for whom they sacrificed their career seem to get busy in their own worlds. By then, the gap in their careers had turned into a wide, unfathomable abyss. The speakers here commanded respect for going tangential to the default trajectory of the Average.
Few speakers, gifted with eloquent oratory were brilliantly effective in their articulation as they discussed their journey lines. Apart from the scheduled talks, the event served the secret purpose of formal socialization, building the foundations of a women-network which in-prospect might lead to something productive, and more importantly, let the women attendees chat within themselves. With a bunch of phone numbers exchanged, courtesy smiles reciprocated, the event ended with attendees making inchoate promises of keeping in touch. I am trying not to be cynical here, but somehow I felt the event dint percolate to sufficient depth and just remained a nice memory or a commendable initiative by ThoughtWorks. After attending the event, I had this realization that events with subjective and broad agendas, such as promoting a women network, don't have much take-aways than filling you up with loads of inspiration. When I say this, I am fully aware that destiny has the full power to negate my statement anytime and turn my opinion upside down and I might write a counter-post for this.
No doubt, ThoughtWorks did a great job in extending generosity to us with intermittent high-teas, decent lunch and highly motivating talks which I have no intention to crib for a free event, that too in their uber cool office running in the elite Koramangala. Neither the exchange of words with 'my-types' did some harm to me. In fact it enriched my thinking and broadened the horizon of possibilities in my mind. With all the upside of it, somewhere it triggered my higher judgement on effectiveness of such sessions in the long run and I still ponder on its benefit to attendees of varied domains, apart from being another social event. If something worthwhile comes of it, I am more than happy. You never know some sub-networks built that day might have leveraged the event when I sit incognizant doubting its usefulness.
Few speakers, gifted with eloquent oratory were brilliantly effective in their articulation as they discussed their journey lines. Apart from the scheduled talks, the event served the secret purpose of formal socialization, building the foundations of a women-network which in-prospect might lead to something productive, and more importantly, let the women attendees chat within themselves. With a bunch of phone numbers exchanged, courtesy smiles reciprocated, the event ended with attendees making inchoate promises of keeping in touch. I am trying not to be cynical here, but somehow I felt the event dint percolate to sufficient depth and just remained a nice memory or a commendable initiative by ThoughtWorks. After attending the event, I had this realization that events with subjective and broad agendas, such as promoting a women network, don't have much take-aways than filling you up with loads of inspiration. When I say this, I am fully aware that destiny has the full power to negate my statement anytime and turn my opinion upside down and I might write a counter-post for this.
No doubt, ThoughtWorks did a great job in extending generosity to us with intermittent high-teas, decent lunch and highly motivating talks which I have no intention to crib for a free event, that too in their uber cool office running in the elite Koramangala. Neither the exchange of words with 'my-types' did some harm to me. In fact it enriched my thinking and broadened the horizon of possibilities in my mind. With all the upside of it, somewhere it triggered my higher judgement on effectiveness of such sessions in the long run and I still ponder on its benefit to attendees of varied domains, apart from being another social event. If something worthwhile comes of it, I am more than happy. You never know some sub-networks built that day might have leveraged the event when I sit incognizant doubting its usefulness.
