Celebrating women in Goa over a zoom meeting on International Women’s Day (March 8)

By GO Team

— Anwesha Singbal, president of the Konkani Bhasha Mandal, appeals to girl students

“THE Constitution of India has provided equal rights to women. It’s important to study these rights and fight for it. That would bring real social change in our society,” says Anwesha Singbal, the president of Konkani Bhasha Mandal. She was speaking on the subject of ‘Freedom’ on an online function organised by the Women’s Cell of Dnyanprassarak Mandal’s College & Research Centre, Assagao, as part of a week-long program to mark International Women’s Day on March 8.
The commerce faculty of the college also launched online the Entrepreneur Series the same day to showcase young women entrepreneurs. The first such woman entreprenuer is Harsha Naik Kamble, founder of Botique Vastram and alumni of the college. She was interviewed by associate professor Prashanti Talpankar.
In his welcome address to the women Principal of DM College Dr Dilip Arolkar noted that “Women have inborn leadership qualities that needs to be channelized, along with grooming in a focussed manner. Our college consciously empowers its girl students to choose what they want to be and guide them through such programmes.”
Harsha Naik while recounting her struggles confided, “There is no short-cut to hard work and it does not matter if you are a girl or a boy, dark or fair, thin or fat. To achieve something in life what is important is focus, determination and hard work.” In another talk, Dr Gauri Rupesh Gawas, a gynaecologist with IVF Centre at Vision Hospital spoke on the subject of women’s health. She strongly advocated health education for women because they normally tend to neglect their own health, combined with regular exercise and nutritious food to stay fit.
Counsellor Melanie Braganza detailed the essentials of mental wellbeing and guided students in dealing with such common issues as depression, suicidal feelings and more; including how to overcome different situations and state of the mind. Videos of the week-long program from March 8 to 13 were also uploaded on YouTube channel as “Dnyanprassarak Mandal’s College News.” The program included essays and poems presented by students on leadership in women (organised by the English Faculty).
Around 500 students participated actively in the program and during Q&A sessions. The program was coordinated by Ana Lobo (convenor, Women’s Cell) with the help of Dr M Shanthi, Judas Mascarhenas, Dr Dimple Paul, Pooja Bidye, Anupa Naik, Minaxi Kuncolienkar, Tanvi Kuttikar, Chaitali Parkar, Nikita Mangeshkar, Prabhat Desai, Subhash Kamalkar and Jaya Prabhu Parrikar.