Earlier this afternoon, while cleaning some old papers, I came across a limited edition print (one of 20) about a scene from Madurai, titled “Hay layden bullock cart near Madurai” and a few postcards. I have now spent the rest of the afternoon reminiscing and reading the news about the Padma Shri award conferred on the author, Manohar Devadoss, by the Indian Government.
Continue reading
“Sometimes the people whom we’ve know for only a short amount of time have a bigger impact on us than those we’ve known forever.” – Maya Angelou
I have known Prof. Natarajan only since the end of May 2020. He had just been appointed the Dean of the College of Engineering, Guindy (CEG) earlier that month. The CEG alumni had compiled the results of a student survey and wanted his permission to share it with the students and alumni.
Continue reading
When I answered a leadership questionnaire to determine what my primary leadership style is, I was not surprised by the discovery. The result said my leadership style is Coaching. This is good because I currently do a lot of coaching and mentoring. But I am also very much aware that leadership style is highly situational. How many of you are aware of the theory of Situational Leadership?
Continue readingBharathy Bhaskar is a household name in Tamil Nadu. Her motivational talks draw thousands, and her YouTube videos are seen by millions. She is a celebrity and needs no introduction. Why would she agree to a webinar to inspire the students of an engineering college in Chennai? Therein lie some great leadership lessons – a lesson in modesty, a lesson in compassion, and a lesson in the spirit of giving back.
I had the opportunity to talk about Roots and Wings with Hari, my fellow alum from College of Engineering, Guindy. I am thrilled to have four of the women from Roots and Wings provide their takes on what it meant to them to study engineering. Thank you, Nalini, Radha, Kalpa, and Indira! You can click on specific links (in the video description) to hear them talk.
Every year the Alumni Association of College of Engineering, Guindy (AACEG) selects a number of alumni for the Distinguished Alumnus Award. The categories are:
Annika, a Palo Alto High School student, invited me to talk to the students of SAKALA, Haiti about the jobs of the future. Sakala serves as Cite Soleil’s only youth community center, to develop children and young adults through athletics, agronomy, and education. Founded as a Pax Christi peacebuilding project, Sakala builds people of courage and character, to strengthen the families and communities of Cite Soleil. I could not deliver this presentation live due to internet issues but had fun putting this together for their use.
This is a webinar on women’s empowerment I gave to the members of SF Bay Area Tamil Manram. I shortened the length of delivery and created a video from the presentation with voice over.
Recently I was invited to give a talk on Women’s Empowerment at the San Francisco Tamil Manram. This article is based on the webinar I delivered in Tamil. One of my mentees who is currently doing her engineering undergraduate was surprised by some of the challenges I mention. That comes from belonging to the privileged class of women. Keep in mind that when I talk about women, I am talking about all women in the world and my frame of reference is the Indian culture. Challenges unique to women in technical professions are also discussed.
