An interview with Ms SHAIVYA SINGH RATHORE, An Educator, Climate Reality Leader, Environmentalist, Antarctic Expedition Leader & Social Entrepreneur

Question 1:  How was your experience in the journey from being a teaching colleague to a sales director, leadership coach and expedition leader?

Answer: My journey has not been an easy one, it is somewhat like roller coaster ride and had some great experiences. I question myself, like whether I am doing right thing or not. But what I realize is that living in self-doubt is a good thing, it makes me work twice harder. I failed many times and learned many things from  my failures but at the end I am at a decent position. I also felt that whatever I am doing today does involve my engineering skills, analytical mind set and problem solving skills which I have got from engineering institution.

Question 2: How tough was your decision in changing your profession from being an aeronautical engineer to a teacher for ‘Teach for India’?

Answer: To be honest, it was very difficult. The toughest part, in fact, was to convince my parents. Because as Indian parents, they want a very set career for you and we have milestones to achieve by age. Especially as a girl, although it is very wrong to think this, but it is. It persists in our society, like by 25 you should be done with your education, with your job and then by a certain age you should be married. So when I decided to do these things which required me to put in my time, my parents were very uncomfortable. So, the challenge was to convince my parents, to convince the society that I was doing the right things. But also remember that, the people who are with you in the times when you are not at the top of the cliff, are the people that matters to you. The challenge was to build like a support system, to convince people, to show the society that I was up to some good and I was just whiling away my time because I didn’t know where to go.

Question 3: How did you feel when you were featured in article from Femina Tamil?

Answer- It was a great feeling and although it was very weird and funny as I could not read what was written and I had to ask other people to translate but for the first time I felt like a powerful woman. Whereas sometimes you need these rewards to show what you have done or to just celebrate all your efforts.  I am getting famous, getting reward for what  I am doing and it makes me happy and satisfied too.

Question 4: You have set an example of women empowerment so what views do you hold regarding this and what message can you impart to the women of India?

Answer: I think if women can survive in India, balance academics, family pressures, jobs, marital pressures etc. then they are capable of doing anything. It’s just like saying that if you can drive in India you can drive in any part of the planet similarly if women in India can balance these things and emerge then she is capable of doing anything. I think my message for women in India would be to follow their dreams and not give up and not focus on negativity because when you open newspaper there is a lot of negativity and it is very terrible when it comes treating women in India. So, let’s shift our focus from thinking about that to actually doing something productive and get to a position where you actually are a powerful woman to command change over that situation. As a community, women should really become strong, follow their passions, prove a point and become so strong that these things stop happening. And I think women should be more cognizant, should be more friendly and be happy to collaborate other women. So don’t be anxious if another woman is doing well and celebrate with that women and form a community to help other women.

Interviewed by:

Queen Saikia

Rini Pandey

Photographer:

Ruchika Agrawal