Bengaluru : The Women’s Day celebrations at the BMS College of Engineering campus on Wednesday, March 11 witnessed activities ranging from fun to self-awareness activities to events aimed at women empowerment. The event organized by the Women’s Cell of BMS College of Engineering was well attended by all the students and the faculty. The daylong event kicked off by the ceremonial lighting of the lamp by Dr. Mallikarjuna Babu, Principal, BMSCE. The first event of the day was a street play on the topic of women harassment, which was followed by a talk on Yoga in our life followed by cultural events and a panel discussion.

Every step taken by BMS College of Engineering during the celebrations was aimed at empowering women. The street play against women harassment made a huge impact on the audience and brought a thought amongst all such men to rethink their actions against women. The talk on “Yoga in our Life” by Mrs. Parvati, the in-house Yoga Teacher at BMSCE enlightened the importance of yoga in one’s life and how yoga brings together the gap between Aatma and Paramaatma.

The cultural events included a short skit on Female foeticide that left all the viewers spellbound on the inhumane acts that we commit for a baby boy. The skit ended with a slogan Shristi (women) rakshati rakshitah!! The last event of the day, the Panel Discussion on “Women- Her own glass Ceiling” had Ms. Nirmala Yaligar, Senior Programme Executive, Doordarshan, Ms. Jyotsna Pattabiraman, Senior Vice President, Product Marketing at Knowlarity Communications, and Dr. Nandini Mundkur, developmental pediatrician as panelists.

Sharing her views on the topic, Ms. Nirmala Yalligar said “the glass ceiling effect in any women has been imposed by the society in one or the other form due to which we women have been conditioned to limit ourselves since birth.”

Addressing the gathering, Ms. Jyotsana Pattabiraman shared, “women need to fight for what they want, should stop letting the society decide what women should do and start demanding for their rights.” She also shared that 50% women opt for entry level jobs however the percentage drops as the level increases and by the time it reaches the CEO level, the percentage drops from 50% to 1%- there is some systemic issue that stops the women to rise to the leadership level.

Dr. Nandini Mundkur well known developmental pediatrician, shared, “The attitude with which we bring up our children matters a lot in creating a glass ceiling amongst the women.” She also spoke about the “White Ribbon Revolution”- which is all about asking men to start a revolution to stop harassing women all over the world.