LAJA TALKS
Anniversaries always bring back a flood of memories and a sense of accomplishment for the success of cycle. For team LAJA Talks , April 17th brought in all of these feelings and more. April 17th marked the First Anniversary of the coveted LAJA TALKS, a space under LAJA- Worth Being A Woman, that was designed exclusively for women to share their life stories, to empathise with their journeys and to celebrate their triumphs.
What started in April 2023 in the beautifully packed auditorium of the SNDT Women’s University, Juhu Campus went on to the Ahmedabad Management Association, then to Delhi and now back to Mumbai at the buzzing campus of the #NirmalaMemorialFoundationCollege, Kandivali.
Nine dynamic women took centre stage and spoke about life, health, societal challenges, trials and tribulations, loss, grief and most importantly the triumphs and the successes of their conviction in their own selves. This was not just about how they overcame or succeeded; this was about how they believed in themselves, broken their shackles and soared to the skies.
The nine amazing women included Hemangi Shah, DrNeeta Mhatre Mishra, Ami Mehta, Meenal Verma, Sangita Chauhan, Hema Bhatia, Sangita Agarwal, Aishwarya Sandeep and Supriya Kabra.
The event started with a wonderfully poignant speech by our dear and most encouraging support Shweta Shaliniji.
Swiddle D’Cunha, the young & dynamic Principal of Nirmala Memorial Foundation Collage added a sense of sanctity to the initiative by LAJA, which was followed up by a beautiful recognition of the intention of LAJA TALKS by the gracious Vice Principal DrPoonam Kakkad.
Special thanks to our gifting partners – The Diet Valley and Divits Collection.
Finally, as always heartfelt gratitude to all our supporters and the amazing audience who not just cheered for the Nine Speakers but also shared their love and encouragement for the team.
3rd Edition – January 20th, 2024
Anticube Coworking Spaces
Second Edition – July 27, 2023
Ahmedabad Management Association, Ahmedabad
When Liberian peace activist – #LeymahGbowee said, “When women gather, great things will happen;” she was not kidding. On July 27, 2023 great things did happen at the Ahmedabad Management Association during the Second Edition of LAJA Talks.
Eleven amazing women came on stage and shared their stories to an audience comprised mainly of women in an event designed and organized by woman – what more could you ask for!
Following the theme ‘SAHAS – Courage,’ each woman shared her story of courage, conviction, passion, enthusiasm, emancipation, and most importantly self-confidence. Some of the stories had the audience misty-eyed, some got the audience laughing, some made the audience go ‘ahh’ while some had them nodding in agreement; but most importantly all the stories had the audience applauding the women.
The audience comprised of dignitaries including, but not limited to Mr. Unmesh Dixit, Executive Director, Ahmedabad Management Association; Dr.Darshna Thakker; Hetal Amin, Dr. Riddhi Shukla; Dr. Megha Saleel Bhatt, and #ProfDrPKRajput. We also had dynamic women leads and community founders including Hina Gautam, Tanvi Pandya, Bela Maniar and Mita Nathwani supporting us with their presence.
LAJA Talks is an independent initiative taken by women, for women! It gives women a platform to bring forth their ideas to the world and own a stage that listens, understands, and reciprocates. On July 27, 2023; the Second Edition of LAJA TALKS did exactly that… gave eleven inspiring women a stage to share their story with the world.
Here are pictures of the TEAM LAJA TALKS with the speakers, the crowd that acknowledged and applauded the women, and a coverage of LAJA TALKS in today’s #DivyaBhaskar.
The Third Edition of LAJA Talks will be held in #Delhi and we will be opening the forms shortly. We look forward to having more amazing women sharing their inspiring stories on the LAJA TALKS Stage.
First Edition – April 27, 2023
LAJA TALKS at SNDT Women’s University, Juhu
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.
Rightly so. Yesterday was about ‘everything done right’. Yes, everything that Team LAJA Talks did over the past six months culminated last evening into a beautiful show of strength, support and inspiration.
Ten amazing women stepped onto stage and shared their life journeys, their stories, their hearts and left the fully packed auditorium in tears, in awe and most importantly inspired.
LAJA Talks was inaugurated by the graceful and dynamic Hon’ble Vice Chancellor of SNDT Women’s University Mumbai India- Prof. Ujwala Chakradeo. Every word she said, resonated with the women and young girls sitting in the auditorium. Today’s world is not about equality, but about inclusion and equal opportunities.
This was followed by ten amazing women standing on stage and bearing their heart and soul. From stories of battling health issues and coming back strong to setting up an eco-system to help local artisans, to stories of battling social prejudice and still rising from the ashes like a phoenix. There were stories of finding one-self, to those of finding the true meaning of life and living. There were stories of the reality of the life of the girl child in municipal schools and rural villages, to stories of standing against society and helping ones child fulfil his destiny. There were stories of self-love and stories of respect for women irrespective of her situation. There were stories of the perils in the cyber world to finally stories of dignity to a woman – a Mother.
LAJA Talks was planned with the intention of giving women a platform to talk about their stories, talk about their journeys of self-discovery and talk about their innovative ideas and solutions.
April 26, 2023 will forever be etched in our memories as the DAY that women stood strong on stage and gave a voice to their hearts.
It was an evening of emotions, elation and most importantly satisfaction for the entire team of LAJA Talks and Core Laja.
