Adventure, travel, fitness and fashion were the talking points at the Deccan Herald and Prajavani-Bhumika Club event presented by IOCL at Indiranagar Club on Saturday.
The club is an initiative to foster a community for women to network and learn from each other. About 150 people turned up.
Vasu Dixit, lead vocalist of folk-rock band Swarathma, opened the event with powerful renditions of ‘Nadiyolage,’ ‘Yeshu, Allah aur Krishna,’ and ‘Ragi Tandira,’ supplementing them with humour and social commentary. The audience broke into a dance at the end of the five song-set.
This was followed by a panel discussion on travel, featuring senior mountaineer Vasumathi Srinivasan, biker and wildlife conservationist Raja Lakshmi, and vlogger and photographer Gloriya Khamrui.
“Family support is important in whatever endeavour you undertake,” Vasumathi said, speaking about the biggest challenge women face while pursuing an outdoor career. At 68, Vasumathi completed a trans-Himalayan expedition of five months this year.
Lakshmi, who is part of organisations like VSakkhi, and Rotary E-Club of Bengaluru Sakhi, spoke of uncertainties endured on the road, especially when the bikes break down. “Sometimes, we wait for an hour to let the wildlife pass,” she added.
Gloriya said planning is key to be a travel vlogger, more so, since she is a full-time working professional and a young mother. She designs her itinerary around the golden hour, which is a good period for photography.
This was followed by a talk on ‘Safe use of LPG’ by Sreeja Dutta, senior sales officer (LPG-Sales) IOCL.
Some tips she shared: Buy certified accessories from authorised vendors; don’t accept cylinders with a broken seal, never keep the cylinder in a horizontal position, keep gas stove higher than cylinder, store cylinder in a well-ventilated area, call 1906 in case of leakage.
The second discussion on winter brought together Khushbu Shetty and Ruchika Choudhary. Both spoke about following their heart. A model, actor and stylist, Khushbu was inspired by the likes of Aishwarya Rai she would she see on TV growing up, while Ruchika left her software job for a career in fitness and nutrition.
Ruchika emphasised on the need for devoting 30 minutes to a physical activity every day - swimming, weight training, walking while talking on the phone or taking five-minute breaks after every hour. On the nutrition front, people must consciously add protein and fibre to their diets, she said.
On winter fashion, Khushbu recommended jackets, leggings, pashmina shawls, and muga silk sarees.
The event, anchored by RJ Nikitha, concluded with two folk dance performances by the troupe of Sudhindra Nritya Kalanikethana, directed by Gururaj Vashisth.