Suresh Bodiwala
CHICAGO: Bollywood actress and entrepreneur Shilpa Shetty-Kundra attended women empowerment gala held here to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 3. It turned out to be a huge success with large attendance and heavy participation by women speakers.
A fervent defender of gender equality and women’s empowerment, Shilpa Shetty highlighting the pivotal role of women in society as source of love, care and affection. She said, “If empowered, the hand that rocks the cradle can surely rule the world; complementing, contributing, creating a better tomorrow for everyone. I’m not a feminist but a responsible woman. I salute all the women who are homemakers and I think that’s the most difficult job. There is no day off. Women are not only going out and earning bread and butter but also looking after the family.”
Shilpa may be a celebrity to the outside world, but at heart, she says, she’s still the girl who comes from a middle-class background and has seen her father helping her mother in household work.
The event honored female achievers of Chicagoland from all walks of life. Some women speakers talked about true success stories pertaining to issues related to women emancipation and gender equality. Ekjut Theater presented two acts on women’s empowerment. It brought in true stories of the struggles of women and emerging winners in all its situations.
Asha Oroskar talked about gender equality and observed “Genuine practices that promote gender equality within the nuclear family, within academic institutions, and within professional circles could offer a meaningful approach to bringing women empowerment at an individual, social and economic level. Nurturing the females in step with males through childhood, adolescence, formative years of our careers, and through the demanding times of motherhood, followed with age-and skill related programs in support of our golden and senior years, will offer a comprehensive testament to our continuing promise to human lives.”
Geetanjali Maru shared her story and her dream with the audience. “My Dream & Vision Took Shape & Raag ‘N’ Rock Entertainment was born.”
Madhoolica Dear talked about Indo American Heritage Museum which is the only kind of institution for Indian Americans in USA.
Dr. Satish N. Patel of Board Certified Family Medicine strongly believes in helping his clients age gracefully by having them pursue preventive services. He has branched out to aesthetic medicine due to a special interest in it and he provides non-invasive and non-surgical services such as wrinkle reduction, stretch mark removal, brown spot reduction, acne scar reduction, skin renewal, hair removal, and weight loss management
The event inspired the audience members with its thought provoking topics and insights brought in by multi-talented actress. On the work front, Shetty-Kundra was last seen on the small screen judging children dance-based reality show “Super Dancer”. The Government of India has roped in Shetty-Kundra as a Swachh Bharat brand ambassador.
She concluded by saying, “My mission is to promote holistic health for those people who cannot afford a gym or nutritionist and not get enough time to take care of their fitness, especially working women. I would be more than happy to know if I can bring change in even one person`s life on fitness”.
Among the Sponsors were Surinder (Karl) Kalra, Harpreet Kalra, Anoop Mamtani from Atlantic Travel. Asha Oroskar, Geetanjali Maru, Madhoolica Dear, Sabrina Hans, Payal Shah, Sonia Karla, Brij Sharma and Madan Kulkarni were honored by Shilpa Shetty-Kundra with plaques.
Nausheen Ali did an excellent job as Emcee of this event.
