Sonam Kapoor along with nine other women received the 'I am Woman' award on Tuesday. Karan Gupta, a Harvard Business School alum, organised the event to felicitate women who inspired the world with their professional work.
"I have been working in the field of education for the last 17 years. Initially, when I started my journey I found it's the women of our country who need maximum attention. Why do we need to come up with such programmes? (It's because) there is still a gap which we need to fill when it comes to women in our society. After the event even now, women have been texting me saying how they were reminded what a real gift it is to be born as a woman. Somewhere we all have forgotten that," said Karan, who is also the founder of Karan Gupta Education foundation and the Managing Director of IE Business School.
Speaking about the 'I am Woman’ initiative, he said, "This movement celebrates and awards the inspiration of women, powerful women speak about their personal and professional life. Women are reservoirs of strength. We need programmes like these from time to time to remind that." He said. The name of the intiative came from the lyrics of a 70s song. "I was so thrilled when I heard that song. 'I am a woman... hear me roar, in numbers too big to ignore.' The lyrics stayed with me," said Karan as he hummed the words.
“Diane Mariechild said, 'A woman is the full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture and transform'. This quote resonates with what we believe in. Nothing can be more inspiring than listening to the success stories of our power women. This will sow the seeds of courage, resilience and empowerment to thousands of women. KGEF and IE Business School are committed to the success of women and IE welcomes women to study in the various programs that the school offers,” said Karan.
Apart from Sonam Kapoor, the other recipients of the award include Lucky Morani, Amrita Raichand, Kiran Bawa, Rouble Nagi, Nisha Jamvwal, Reshma Merchant, Raunaq Roy, Maheka Mirpuri, Devita Saraf among others, each being a woman who has carved a niche for herself. Guests at the award ceremony included educationist Karan Gupta, Nitish Shah, Mohomed Morani, Sana Khaan, Jalpa Vithalani, Kavitta Verma, Aarzoo Govitrikar, Bina Aziz, Vidya Malwade, director Sanjay Dayma and others.
