I came across this amazing story of P Gopichand (2002 All England Badminton title winner) who is transforming the lives of athletes, mired in poverty and empowering them to win accolades for India

Some success stories:

1. Agsara Nandini, the daughter of a domestic help who won a bronze medal at the Asian games
2. Kunja Rajitha went from collecting firewood from the forest to accumulating medals at international meets
3. Internationally celebrated para athlete Deepthi Jevanji, at one time did not even have money for a bus ticket to come to the academy

All this started when Gopichand noticed that several women athletes would periodically miss practice sessions. He learned that many were too poor to afford sanitary pads, and would need to miss training during periods.

This discovery led to an initiative that has now produced several national and international athletes for India.

The journey:

1. To help, Gopichand started weekly races and give cash price to participants. This amount care of basic needs and buying food items
2. The Mytrah group stepped in and the Gopichand- Mytrah foundation was born. A system was put in place where identified talented athletes were brought to the Academy which gave them accommodation food and training.
3. Even if they could not win medals, the Academy helped them find some government job. It pulled the athletes out of poverty, and gave them a life of dignity

This is really a story of finding true purpose, service and transforming lives of those around us !!!!!

Do women get better returns on Financial Investments or men? I asked 20 people around me this question. 18 out of 20 people, from across the spectrum said….Men. Data tells us differently. Survey results released by ET Money on International Women’s Day:

1. Women investors were found to be more disciplined while investing
2. Better adherence to asset allocation, based on age than men
3. Stick to a systematic investment plan better, as compared to men
4. Over a 4 year period, women recorded better returns on investment than men
5. In 2020, a challenging year for investors globally, women recorded returns of 14% on average while men recorded returns of 11%

A large percentage of women I know (including serious career women), shy away from handling their finances (me included, till a couple of years ago). This survey gives a clear reason why, we as women should step up and get involved in our financial planning. For me it was a little bit of a comfort zone to leave the stress to someone else. Once I started, I found it liberating. There was a sense of taking control.

I believe each of us should take up tasks based on our core competence but till we don’t try, how do we know how good we can be.

To all the super talented & intelligent women I know: stretch your comfort zone and step up!!!!!!