Amazing Women in My Life

March 8, 2013. International Women's Day. This is the day when women from different walks of life and different corners of the world come together to inspire each other and celebrate their achievement. As a woman, I feel privileged to come across some amazingly inspiring women who have only motivated me, every day, to do all I wanted to do and give back to the society all that I can. On this day, I want to write about the few women I met this year, who have made my journey a worthwhile experience.

Starting from home...

My mom is no space scientist or a celebrity or even a working woman for that matter (not that she doesn't work). She is a home maker. They say it takes a lot of love to make a house a home; an art that my mom so passionately performs every day with her whole heart. She is that source of boundless love that has so closely tied my family together for years. As a daughter, I feel blessed to have a mom who despite her own educational deficiency worked hard to give me the best education one could afford for their child. But the lessons I learnt watching her transform over the years (for my sake/ for my family's sake) cannot be matched by any amount of reading under the lampshed OR paid education in expensive schools. 

My mom taught me the value of love and more importantly the value of being a woman. She taught me that embracing humility is not about being powerless but was about winning the hearts of people who cared for you. She taught me that voicing my opinion was not about being a rebel (pothi baaseko as they say in Nepali) but was more about sharing beautiful ideas that would help make this world a much better place to live in (for her, for me, for my daughters and then for their daughters...). She taught me that I didn't have to be scared every time I made a mistake. It is human to err, she says, but to repeat the same mistake again and again is foolishness. She taught me that I didnt have to let the sparks of curiosity in my eyes die down or the songs in my tiny voice be toned down. She taught me I could grow wings and fly to far-off places with dreams (big ones) in my eyes to see the world that she never got to see herself. I feel blessed.

Dear mom, this is to let you know that I owe to you everything I have. I can never give back to you what you gave to me but will try my best to give to my daughter at least a little if not all of what you have given to me. 

Stepping into the world outside...

When I left Nepal in summer last year, my mom was a little apprehensive (not that she had anything to worry about for I was/am a strong girl ready to take the world on my face). Some unfounded fear that grips every mother whose daughter is about to take a solo flight, in the journey called life, to some strange land. A "fear" that I will never understand until I mother a girl myself. Her anxiety had already started making me nervous which subsequently faded when I reached Montreal (the western part of the island to be more precise) for here I met two wonderful women who continue to amaze me till this day.

I run short of words to describe how Jamuna didi and Kaberi didi, both students at McGill University (where I am studying) helped me settle and get accustomed to the all new Canadian way of life. Had it not been for them, I could have still managed to adapt myself to this new place but that would have come at a greater price. The shopping tips (very useful if u are a student having to economize your budget), the metro and bus numbers/schedules (that I still find very confusing), the streets and places with unfamiliar French names and signs (believe me, I have lost my way many a time), the gatherings with Nepalese community in Montreal (I would have never known them otherwise) and all the little things that make your life so much easier when u land on a strange place. But these are all secondary stuffs and not the things I wanted to say for these lovely women. 

People are strange when you are a stranger, sang Jim Morrison. I could never fit into these words because the wonderful "guardian angels" in my life never let me feel a stranger. They never let me feel far from home. In all my ups and downs in the last few months, they've always stood strong by my side never once letting me fall (my mom couldn't have been happier). Every day, I derive so much inspiration from these ladies who have made a mark of their own in this west land. I look up to them and think to myself, if they can do it, I can too. Such is the influence they have in my life. I feel blessed again.

Dear Jamuna and Kaberi didi, thank you for all that you have been to me in the past few months of my life. I hope we can share the same kind of warmth and love in the days waiting for us in the future.

At college...

My supervisor Dr. Joann Karen Whalen, is one woman who amazes not me alone but everybody around her. One of the strongest women I have ever met in my life. Strong in all possible ways- intellectually (she has 100+ publications to her credit-all in high impact scientific journals), physically (she can work nonstop for hours and sometimes her e-mails at midnight keep me wondering if she even sleeps), emotionally (she is a wonderful mother to her daughters), spiritually (it astonishes me how she stays true to her inner callings). She symbolizes women empowerment in true sense. Every day I look at her and learn the value of hardwork, the value of sincerity and the value of dedication.  I cannot thank my stars enough for sending this wonder woman to my life. 

Dear Joann, I may never say this to you, but nobody inspires me like the way you do. Thank you for being my guiding star through these tough times at gradschool. The life lessons that I have learnt from you will stay with me for the rest of my life.

More people at lab...

Did I ever tell you that I "live" in my lab these days? Lab work can be very taxing. There are days when you start at wee hours in the morning and still don't finish till late in the evening. I could have laid down my arms early on in the program (the lab and fieldwork were overwhelmingly tiresome in the summer when I just started), had it not been for the wonderful people I met at lab. Like I said, summer was busy like never before, but my labmates never let me forget what it meant to have fun. With them I could always find some time to go to the Cunningham's for free chicken wings on Tuesdays OR to the happy feet for a dance lesson on Wednesdays OR to the happy hours on campus for a drink on Thursdays OR to the occasional lab lunches at the Tandoori's. Not to forget all the potluck gatherings and gamesnight and bakenight and all the fun stuff we did together both inside and outside the lab. 

At the lab, I met girls (there were boys too, but they'll have to wait until "Men's Day" before I write about them :p) who became friends that I could share my lunch with and even secrets sometimes. Bethany, the beautiful chai wali--who keeps freeloading me with some great exotic teas (she also gives me baking lessons every week)--knows the lab like the back of her hand. She is one place I can always go to when I have trouble finding my ways in the lab. Katina-- the friendliest girl with a heart of gold. She is so kind and understanding that I connected with her the instant we met. A great cook herself, she can never stop being amazed at how I cook my food in the pressure cooker. Jinghan--the cute Chinese girl who worked painstakingly at lab to finish off her thesis just on time. I cannot help being grateful to her for all the help she offered me when I started off in the summer. I will forever remember her as the most helpful girl I met in McGill last summer. Chen--she is my baking partner. I will never forget all the fun we had/will be having during our baking sessions. Vanita--the smart and intelligent girl at our lab. People often get confused coz we both have names that sound kind of similar. 

There were more girls during the summer, who are no longer with us at our lab right now. Sarah--the lively girl from Germany who couch-surfed her way to New York--was full of life and we shared some great moments together in some not so great places like the barn, the grinding room and all those claustrophobic confines you could think of. She went back to Germany after finishing her internship, but she writes to me often and it's a beautiful feeling. Sasha--who liked to call herself a coconut: dark outside but white inside-- is one of the happiest souls I've ever met . The way her eyes sparkled every time she spoke, anyone could like her. Then there were Lisa and Andrea, the strong American girls who were so so hardworking. Also Lotte, from Netherland who, I always thought, lived her life to the fullest; finding enough time (and courage too) to do all that she wanted to do. And there was the beautiful Sogol whose Iranian accent I always loved hearing and Maria who will be giving birth to her first baby sometimes soon. Whoever thought I would meet so many wonderful girls at my lab.

Dear girls, thank you for coming into my life and making it so much more easy, fun and beautiful. I have learnt a lot from each one of you. You will all forever remain in my memories. 

On the internet...

This year I met some really great women over the internet. Its a different story that they dont even know I exist but there's not a single day when I don't draw inspiration from them, their actions and their lives. One name that clicks my mind right now is Sarah Kay, an American poet known for her spoken poetry. This woman (who I first saw on my favorite Ted Talks) at just 24 years of age gives me (and many people across the globe) so many reasons to express myself and be myself. You should listen to her some day, you'll know what I meant. And there is a long list of wonderful women, I met on various social sites, not necessarily famous, but are all stars in their own ways. Every day as I interact with them over the internet, I learn so much. Their thoughts and ideas are so beautiful that they leave me contemplating and even soul searching at times.

Dear women on the internet, keep hitting me with your beautiful ideas.

In my thoughts...

There are some women I did not meet-in-person this year. But they often come to me in my thoughts and leave me rejuvenated with ideas to be a better human being, to do better things for my own good and for the good of my society. As I write these lines, I am reminded of Chal Maya Acharya, from a remote village in Sindhupalchok district of Nepal. I met her back in 2010 when I was visiting  some VDCs in the district to see the impact of farmer to farmer (FtF) extension at community level. She was an ELF (Effective Leader Farmer) who also guided us through the village and helped us during our 3-day-visit to the place. She was a school of knowledge on sustainable agriculture techniques and could put to shame even the greatest of experts with her knowledge derived from on-field experience. But that was not what impressed me. Many people could learn that, given the opportunity. What impressed me was her leadership quality. A woman from a remote village with the minimum level of education to boast about, she knew just how to find her ways in the male dominated society of ours. She was really inspiring and hard working who set an example for the whole village that agriculture is still a very noble profession. She had not changed her life alone but the lives of many other women (and men by default) in her village by selflessly teaching them what she knew. The impression that she left on me in those short 3 days will remain imprinted upon my mind forever. No wonder she keeps visiting me in my thoughts even today. 

Then there are some people close to my heart who have been with me through thick and thin. Tripty, my friend from school who, last month, gave birth to the most beautiful girl on earth (OMG am I getting old?) AND Rosni, my cousin who is doing a great job helping the sick (something she always dreamt of since I knew) AND Bindu didi, a superwoman who has taken the world in her stride and has proven time and again, how powerful a woman she is AND Susma & Charu my besties from my undergrad years, my partners in crime who managed to make me laugh at even the silliest of jokes. I am already laughing inside my head at the thought of it :D

Dear girls in my head, do give me a visit every once in a while, so I can remember all the wonderful times we spent together and the beautiful thoughts we shared together. You girls make me feel that life couldn't be better.

Once again, cheers to all the amazing women in my life. Happy International Women's day 2013.

P.S. This is probably one of the longest blogs I have ever posted. I promise I won't write anything this long next time. Thank you for bearing with me :-)