Fortunately, I have always had the opportunity of working in women-dominant environments throughout my professional life. This allowed me to listen to and be inspired by their life journeys, struggles, and perseverance. Each of them has stood up for me in the most difficult of circumstances and held my hand whenever I would be on the verge of breaking down.

They all brought their unique perspectives on equality, and their dedication and commitment to the cause never failed to surprise me. 

Many years ago, when I was in my early 20s, I would feel stuck at my desk in the office for weeks at a stretch, managing donor requirements, reporting, proposals, etc. I waited to grab every opportunity to travel to the project area in Sundarbans to meet my colleagues, who were also my role models. All of them were women farmers and entrepreneurs (as I now see them, though not recognised then) who rose through the ranks over time to become SHG federation leaders or leaders of cooperatives. They inspired me with their stories of lived realities that made me forget my woes of managing deskwork. I listened with amazement to the real social activists of our country – the women, who were from the lowest economic strata and one of our country's most vulnerable and remote geographies.

They were leading simple rural lives, yet the passion inside them burned so deep that they projected the power to transform society from its core.

They would tell me how early on in their lives, many of them engaged in the occupation of fishing in the distributaries, standing thigh-deep in water and muck all day long, and they were the sole earning members in their households. They would tell me about how they had to cross two rivers every morning to reach the project office by a ferry route heavily dependent on the tides. They would tell me how they lost their assets and livestock yearly to devastating cyclones and floods. And they would tell me about their lives within the households and negotiations in their personal spaces, which I was too young to understand then. But in the end, they all found solidarity and sisterhood in their work.

When it was time for me to return from Sundarbans, they would say, “Chole jachho keno, aar kota din thakle hoto na? (Why are you leaving, couldn’t you stay for a few more days?). In this way, they inspired me to realise my professional goals, and I wanted to narrate their stories of survival, perseverance, and resilience.

Whenever I returned to my desk, I would never feel stuck again.

To date, I owe my entire professional journey to the inspiration of my role models – the women leaders- for building my perspective on equality and enabling me to contribute more meaningfully to my work.