Dote on daughters

It was

clearly the girls’ evening out. From school girls to prominent journalists, from IAS officers to actresses, women from all walks of life joined hands to celebrate ‘womanhood’ at a City hotel on July 1.

It was Daughter’s Day and the Public Relation Council of India, Bangalore, celebrated it in memory of Kalpana Chawla.

The highlights of the event included a highly compelling discussion with chief guests Meera Saksena, Principal Secretary (Forest), Government of Karnataka and Tara Venu, the award-winning actress.

The discussion was moderated by the witty Radio Jockey Anjaan.The event called Daughters of Today: Charting a path beyond social benevolence also saw the who’s who of City’s media.

The event opened with a nostalgic and inspiring short film. The opening address was then delivered by Anil Naik, Chairman, PRCI Bangalore Chapter. 

He said, “Behind every successful man, there is an astonished mother-in-law and behind every successful woman, there is herself.”

Chief mentor of PRCI, M B Jayaram talked about the various programmes of the PRCI like public relations, communication and social awareness by identifying important social issues and other professional services.
“If you teach a man, he alone becomes literate, but if you teach a girl child, the entire family becomes literate,” he said.

Meera Saksena said she had worked for seven years in the field of women and child development in Karnataka.

“Women face several problems like female infanticide, abortion, child marriages, dowry harassment, child widowhood and other social stigmas. The girl-child is being harassed right from the beginning to the end. Maternal mortality rate is very high in India as basic healthcare is denied to many women,” Meera said.

“The Government of India should plan to provide education in the true sense of the word, good nutrition and a sense of self-sufficiency to women by giving them employment,” she said.

In the second half of the panel discussion, panelist spoke about the plight of daughters and women currently in India.

The moderator was RJ Anjaan and speakers included Mythili Krishnamurthy, Revathi Venkatraman, president, Awake; Priya Chetty Rajagopal, Principal Consultant (vice-president), Stanton Chase International; and nutritionist Sheela Krishnaswamy.
The solutions cited by them to end the sufferings of the daughters in this country were education, empowerment, financial independence and self-confidence.