CHINO HILLS, CA: The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Chino Hills, CA held its annual Women’s Conference themed Resolutions: Bonds that Liberate. The conference centered on positive resolutions that transform lives by transforming habits: accepting ownership, performing hard work, and making sacrifices. Distinguished speakers discussed how one’s resolve to take ownership, perform hard work, and make sacrifices can strengthen character and develop grit.
The conference was led by keynote speaker Dr Nandini Rajagopalan, Professor of Management and Organization in the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. In her speech, she mentioned, ” Resolutions need to reflect the priorities in your life and these priorities can change. The resolution should be consistent with your career stage, your life stage, your family stage… Focusing on what we can do rather than focusing just on the desired outcome gives us a greater sense of fulfillment.”
Reflecting on her conference experience, Dr. Rajagopalan later expressed, “we [many Indian women] grew up in a society where we didn’t talk about our failures, emotional challenges, and certainly not about topics like dealing with adversity. I’ve found that meeting in a place like this and sharing our successes and failures is not just inspiring, but empowering, honest, and truthful.”
Akta Patel, a clinical nurse manager and business owner, focused on how individuals can cultivate personal accountability within family, community, and spiritual growth without feeling burdened. Ms. Patel noted, “Knowing that everyone has different issues, different concerns, and different situations going on in their lives gives us an opportunity to learn from and thrive off each other.”
The audience learned that hard work requires drive and dedication, a commitment to finding the solution without giving up, from Dhwani Shah, a student at the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry. Dr. Indira Mehta, a former Research Biologist and lecturer at the University of California, Irvine concluded the conference by discussing value of sacrifice, specifically the empowerment found in putting others’ needs before one’s own.
The Women’s Conference was organized by local youth and women volunteers of BAPS. They dedicated weeks of their time leading up to the conference to organize a professional forum where women could share their strengths and empower one another. The diversity of speakers invited to present at the conference appealed to a wide variety of interests among audience members.
Their personal experiences and adherence to cultural values inspired young women to strive for success while imbibing spirituality into their daily lives. “What really stood out to me was the quality of the speakers, the messages, and especially the fact that there were a lot of young women here. I feel that when we teach a woman, we teach a village.
We may not be in a village anymore, but each one of us is impacting a village. Whether it’s our daughters, husbands, brothers, or employees. I think events like these are critical for empower[ing] women, and an empowered women will create an empowered environment, period,” said Sumita Batra, the CEO of Ziba Beauty.
Jankee Pandya, a local volunteer from the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, mentioned, “One of our most important goals for this year’s Women’s Conference was to have every attendee find this conference worthwhile and meaningful in some way and I truly believe that we were successful in doing that. All of the speakers brought something unique to the conference and were able to relate to an audience of a wide age range.”
Mansi Patel, a young audience member who attended the conference articulated, “Initially, I wasn’t very interested in attending the Women’s Conference. I’m a freshman in college and did not think the material would be very relevant to my life right now. But after hearing about the speakers’ experiences and how they became so successful through hard work, I felt so motivated! Hearing about their dedication and commitment made me want to work harder and pursue a career that is meaningful to me.”
After the conference, audience members were able to network with the speakers and other professional women who attended the event. The Women’s Conference program connected with members of the audience to bring them together and inspire them.
His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj encouraged events as such to strengthen and support women to, in turn, support the backbone of our society. Today, his beliefs are persevered by His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj who encourages all to lead a life infused with spirituality and integrity.
India Post News Service
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