“It is empowering to see women live out their dreams and soldier on where their rights are challenged or their presence questioned. Cyber space is next on the map.
There has been a certain bias against women in digital spaces, weird doubts about their technological prowess and their scientific acumen. No wonder the environment gets rarefied as we go up the STEM ladder or corporate ceiling.
It is time that we teach our girls to dress up as planets, clouds, fishes, astronauts, hearts, stars and stardust. It is time we tell them that they can be more, more than who they think they are OR less, less than what others expect them to be. Women can be whoever wherever whatever they want.
Just like the protagonist of my first book, the doughty Enakshi Chatterji made her space in sales, or the heroine of my second book- Rani Dijeanliu, the fiery freedom fighter, spent 14 years in prison for the sake of her people, we need to storm prejudicial walls and create meaningful connections amidst the female community. We need to create a world where women can belong, and feel free, safe, satisfied, aware and loved. As the digital space gets bigger and bigger, it creates a larger platform for women to find their place, to give shape to their dreams, utilize their intellect to create a more equitable digispace and be a part of the AI revolution. #PowerOn”
Written By – Aashisha Chakraborty, bestselling author, columnist, poet
About Aashisha Chakraborty
Aashisha is a PM-YUVA author and Write India winner whose debut novel – Mis(s)adventures of a Salesgirl by Rupa Publications is loosely based on her experiences as a sales manager. Her second book is a work of historical fiction with National Book Trust, tentatively titled ‘The 13-year-old Queen and her inherited destiny’. She has written for various Readomania anthologies and e-books by Women’s Web and InsideIIM. Her articles have appeared in The Hindu and she has a Star Wars fan fiction column on SilverLeaf Poetry. A winner of Kaafiya (the Delhi Poetry Festival), she showcases her short stories on Readomania Premium. A compulsive reader and an avid traveler, she is an MBA from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi and a computer engineer from Jamia Millia Islamia. She has also modeled for a German photographer and likes to blog on her online diary of sorts – ‘The Mind Bin’.
