Christmas is much more than decorating a tree or shopping for gifts, it is the time to embrace the spirit of giving. Staying true to the essence of the holiday, The Body Shop has teamed up with PLAN International, a global children’s charity striving to advance children’s rights and equality for girls across the globe, to work towards a better world for girls. Earlier this week, the brand had the Dream Big Christmas event at Le Meridien, Gurugram to provide a platform for accomplished women from various walks of life to encourage girls to dream big this Christmas.
Talking at the event, Vankadarath Saritha, the first female DTC Bus driver, the youngest of five sisters has been in driving for the last 15 years shared her story. Given the monetary crunch at home, Saritha left her studies and started driving the auto for six years before coming to Delhi. “I believe that no work is small. Though my dream was to become a police officer, today I’m the first female DTC Bus driver. The message that I would like to send across is that believe in yourself and go ahead with your dreams.”
Another lady who broke the glass ceiling is Anju Mangla, the first female Police Superintendent of Tihar Men’s Jail. Mangla always wanted to serve the society and today she is posted in the male young offenders’ prison. “Given the opportunity to work in the male prison, I accepted the challenge. I started pondering upon how I can improve the lives of the offenders and the already existing system so that their reformation is guaranteed.
Today, when the offenders are released, they tell me that had they been given these values before, they wouldn’t have been in prison.” Working as a dentist for the six days of the week, Dr Neharika Yadav is off to Buddh International Circuit on Sundays where she practices racing and today she holds the tag of being a professional Super Biker. “With 40 men on the grid, I’m the only female racer in the 1,000 cc category of superbikes. However, the journey wasn’t an easy one as I had men coming up to me telling me to perform better. We as women need to have confidence and fight the stereotypes that are embedded in our mind,” said Yadav, who stressed on undoing the conditioning that women have undergone over the years having been in a patriarchal society.
The panel also included Harmeet Singh, VP Brand, Marketing and Ecommerce, The Body Shop Asia South, who has over 20 years of experience in the corporate world. “When I started my career in the corporate world, I noticed the disparity among men and women in terms of the salary and treatment. However, over the years the most important lesson that I have learnt is that a woman can achieve whatever she dreams of. Even the campaign of Dream Big is to spread the message of dreaming big and you will achieve it.”
On a concluding note, Anuja Bansal, Executive Director, PLAN International India said that women don’t want to prove they are better, all we ask is equal opportunities and to be treated as equals. “I’m the youngest of three siblings. With two elder brothers, I always had to fight for space every single day and that’s when I realised that I needed to be strong both physically and mentally.
“It is important to know that excellence is not just about climbing up the ladder and becoming a CEO of a company. It is being able to do what you want to do with your life to the best of your abilities. We need to dream big and no one has the right to stop us from fulfilling them. Trust and believe in yourself and you will be successful.”
Christmas special This year, The Body Shop has gift collections featuring bath and body gifts, premium skincare sets and novelty gifts. You can also discover three seasonal ranges exclusively for Christmas 2019 which includes Juicy Pear, Warm Vanilla and Rich Plum.