On Teachers' Day, women leaders and entrepreneurs share lessons they learnt in life
This Teachers’ Day, women leaders and entrepreneurs tell us what they learnt from various people in their life - parents, mentors, and even detractors.
Since 1962, Teachers’ Day has been celebrated in India on the birth anniversary of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan who was an exemplary teacher, mentor, and the second President of India. It is a day to celebrate our teachers, mentors, and individuals, who have, in different ways, impacted us and taught us about life, success, failures, and much more.
Beyond the walls of schools and colleges, Teachers’ Day is also about the individuals has shared valuable life lessons with us. These could be people we meet, interact with, mentors, role models, parents, and in some cases, even detractors.
HerStory reached out to a few women and asked them about their best teachers and what they learnt from these individuals.
Smita Mishra, Founder and CEO, Fandoro
Fandoro is a platform promoting adoption of Sustainable practices across enterprises. They review and audit the commitment and implementation of enterprises towards the Sustainable Development Goals (Agenda 2030).
Smita tells us,
“I have found a teacher in everyone I meet. It inspires me to learn from everyone and constantly look forward to seeking wisdom from the universe. But my father has been and still is my best teacher. He leads a very simple life and is the most hardworking human I know of."
"His in-depth knowledge and understanding of so many subjects and life, in general, amazes me. I have learnt empathy, persistence, patience, and the art of networking from him. He has gone through trying times in his personal life but he always keeps smiling - this pushes me to be a strong and compassionate person in life. I have always seen him as the leader par excellence and constantly keep trying to follow his footsteps. He truly motivates me to be a better version of myself every day. Happy Teacher's Day to all the teachers - they truly come in all forms," she says.
Samara Mahindra, Founder and CEO, Carer
Carer is a post-recovery programme for cancer patients. Samara, based out of Bengaluru, says,
“If you really want the truth, my biggest learnings have been from all the naysayers and the people who spent their time and energy letting me know how my dreams were meant to be contained within the four walls of my room while I slept at night. I have had the opportunity to meet multiple people in my journey, some of who have given free advice only about the inability to achieve out of the ordinary. I call these people the torchbearers of mediocrity and my biggest teachers," she says.
"Today I have garnered a tremendous amount of self-belief and the insatiable passion to look beyond the ordinary. However, it wouldn’t have been possible if I didn’t expose myself to the teachers who showed me a roadblock or the end of the road. As I looked at them and analysed their lives, I envisioned mine turning out to be the same. This gave me the courage to overcome roadblocks or find a new path altogether," adds Samara.
Sucheta Pal- Ambassador, Zumba® fitness
Sucheta is a fitness expert and a Zumba® ambassador and here is what she has learnt from her two nephews.
She says, "Someone once told me, there are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child, there are seven million. My nephews - 13-year-old and 7-year-old - are like chalk and cheese but one thing they have taught me is to look at life with more curiosity and approach each day with a sense of wonder."
"One of them has cajoled me into bouncing for hours at a trampoline park with him despite my fears of pulling a muscle. And the other one has no fear when it comes to challenging his uncle to a fistfight and has even shown me unconditional love by watering the garden plants each day. Thanks to both of them, I sometimes try to live more freely and approach situations with a childlike wonder when life throws a curveball," she adds.
Shikha Suman, Founder and CEO, Medimojo
Shikha started Medimojo, an AI-based patient engagement platform, after dealing with a health crisis in the family.
"My teacher for life has been my father not because he is just my father but because of the entrepreneurial lessons that I have learnt from him. His ability to start the business in the early 60’s, being a first-time business person in the family, when everyone thought the family will be on the road post that," she says.
"The conviction that he had, the path that he took and the resilience that he has shown over the years, it's a delight to hear from him and learn the nuances. One best thing that I learnt from him is you need to keep moving, don't get complacent. There are bigger goals that one must strive to achieve and keep growing every day, how much smaller the progress be. There will be hardships and struggle all around, from family, friends and external world, but one must keep calm and be totally dedicated and focussed," adds Shikha.
Nisha Merchant, Co-founder, Atelier92
Atelier is a marketplace for online gifting co-founded by Mumbai based Nisha Merchant. She says:
"Our school principal Sr. Veronica of Holy Cross Convent said - your marksheets will only take you so far in life, learn to be a better human instead, in the end, that's all that matters. It seemed strange back then. But from the age of 10, our school took all students to spend time with specially-abled children, orphans, with patients suffering from leprosy, HIV, and we've had the most humbling experiences of our lives with them. We were taught that everyone deserves to be loved equally and unconditionally."
"These values are rooted so deep in me that they've laid the foundation to my life and also reflects in the culture of my startup, Atelier92. Today, where bigotry, hatred and despair are tearing the world apart, Sister Veron's words ring clear even today - to bear the light of love and enlighten those around us," adds Nisha.
(Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta)