BEING WOMEN | It's not about women being stronger or better than men: Carat's Rajani Menon

A noted scholar once famously said, "Sure God created man before woman. But then you always make a rough draft before the final masterpiece."

Although we are yet to figure out who was this noted scholar but rest assured he/she did see something, what many people tend to ignore these days. Amongst the roses and innumerable cards that you would give to your girlfriends on Valentine's day, or on a Rose Day, why not try and give our support and an ovation to them this Women's Day ' credit to the way they have come up the ranks despite their struggles.

As yet another International Women's day goes past us, more and more women would keep knocking on the doors of opportunities till they get their answer.

One such person that we feature today is Rajani Menon. Rajani is the Associate Vice-President of Carat Media and been one of the pillars of progress at Carat.

As Adgully pokes her with questions on the D-Day, Rajani is quick to point out that "IWD is all about celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future."

"I'm not a strident feminist, nor do I want men to stand up and vacate their seat on the public transport for me... But I do think its kind of nice to have a special day just for us -- a day to reflect on what it means to be a woman," she says with a smile on her face.

Rajani who has worked with some big names like Zenith Optimedia, Lintas Media Group, McCann Erickson and Madison Communiations, draws inspiration from her strong family background (which included her mother, father and her grandmother).

Born and brought up with strong values Rajani says, "my Grandmother who was a housewife, brought up her brood to be a bunch of exceptionally talented and successful people despite having to face various adversities. She was strong, independent, well read and had a point of view and believed in equal rights for women.

"Then my mom, who too was a working lady managed her day to day chores effortlessly," she says.

"But despite all this I have to say that I was inspired by my dad. He never shirked away from being a complete partner in his marriage, helping and smoothening the path that my mom faced daily. I guess the balance that she achieved would not have been possible without his contribution," she recalls.

"Professionally too I've had some very inspiring bosses (both men & women). I would not be able to isolate the impact that the two different genders had in my technical knowledge and skill growth.

"But definitely there's that little additional for which people like Lynn D'Souza, Ambika Srivastava, Anamika Mehta, Mona Jain have been inspiration. And that primarily is "STRENGTH".

"So for that's why I subscribe to the feminist movements to the level of that we need to achieve that optimum balance, it's not about women being stronger or better etc than men," she adds.

Ask Rajani and she would tell you that media industry is the best place to look for inspiration. "There are many women stalwarts in here and I guess it's a one place where we are better off than the opposite gender," she says.

"Media is about understanding connections. Between people, between people, brands & media and women have that ability to decode these myriad relationships. Call it "instinctive' or "intuitive' or just about doggedly chasing those numbers and breaking them down, but I have seen women deliver better on those fronts," she explains.

A master of the trade, Rajani surely has been one of the torchbearers of change and an inspiration for many who come in touch with her.

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