Out of the ordinary

The plight of educated women, sometimes, is a cause of concern. Their husbands could be talking of crores and economic theories, but their wives’ understanding of the subjects may not be so good. Millennium Mams, a 15-year-old Kolkata-based organisation, has taken up cudgels on behalf of these women and is working relentlessly to ensure that hundreds of women are no mere ciphers but have substance in them.

After having successfully conducted workshops in Kolkata and Mumbai, where wives of many businessmen have been trained to make sense of business, economic and political issues, Millennium Mams has now come down to Bangalore.

From July 2009, 35 women are attending the year-long course where they are made to read, understand and interpret business news, analyse the fluctuations in the market and realise how to translate them into substantial gains.

Bishnu Dhanuka, whose brainchild Millennium Mams is, says, “It always puzzled me why we could not offer anything to ladies who are as highly qualified as their male counterparts. I found that these women are tuned to confine their thoughts and dreams to their family and home. They aren’t allowed to grow out of this mould.”

Explaining the raison d'etre of Millennium Mams, Dhanuka says, “It is okay to make others happy. But why should not one do things that make oneself happy as well. I realised that if you empower women with knowledge, the rest will fall in place.”

Dhanuka, under the aegis of Millennium Mams structured a one-year intensive programme that covered all matters related to business such as capital market, study of balance sheet of companies, profit loss account and other things to begin with. Dhanuka’s efforts to popularise the one-year course in Kolkata, later in Mumbai too, had stupendous response among the women.

The 35 women, who have signed up for the course in Bangalore, say in addition to widening their contacts and having loads of fun as a close knit group, they are learning to interpret business matters and feel more confident to pitch in with their ideas at dinner table business talk at home.

Meeting once a week, these women exchange their ideas, besides dedicating time to study the course material that has been given to them.

They have eight sessions during a month. “I feel more confident after I have widened my knowledge on topics related to business. After the course I feel I am able to contribute so much more to the growth and development of my family,” says Preetha Wali, coordinator in Bangalore. Deepa, Tara and Malathi feel the course is intellectually stimulating.

For details, call 22484550/51.