Below are my notes from my TEDxGoa and Gurgaon talk. I spoke about the Goal program, a Standard Charter initiative that aims to empower girls with life skills education and sports. We are interviewing 12-18 year old girls in Delhi and in Mumbai and will be following them over the next six months.

These days I am working on a short documentary project where we are following several girls over the next six months. This program aims to empower girls with life skills education and sports. We are trying to capture the program’s impact as well as understand how these girls perceive themselves.

This project is especially close to me because athletics have always been an important part of my life. Here’s a shot clip to show phase one, I will then talk about how it has made me feel.

These interviews have been eye opening for me. I’ve long known that girls everywhere feel pressure. But the way pressure manifests itself into action or emotional stress is fascinating.

If I asked American teenage girls or middle class girls from Bombay or Delhi, tell me three things about yourself, my guess is not one of them will mention housework.

When I first came to India nearly eight years ago, someone once shared this thought with me:  Women hold all the power in the house, and while some feel this is oppressive, it can also be empowering because women feel a sense of pride in owning responsibilities. And so I can understand.

But, I also wonder if these same girls and women had the time and or access to take pride and ownership over something else, how would they respond? Does it boil down to access to ideas, mentors, and resources? Is that why so many of these girls want to be teachers and now sports coaches as well?

Recently I met someone who in spite of having financial resources and ‘status’ has spent most of her life fulfilling obligations of being a daughter, wife, and mother. She told me she was ready to do something for herself, but I wondered if she had the mental and emotional strength to be independent and assertive.

In her voice I could hear these teenage girls who live on the periphery in the slums and chawls of Delhi. What is it about duty, responsibility, and obligation that holds so many women, me included, in a space where we feel we have compromised our sense of independence.

I am well aware that society influences the way we think and act. But at some point in life, one recognizes there has to be a paradigm shift.

And so I leave you with the idea we can create and demand new rules. Although it is hard to change attitudes, cultural pressures, and ultimately the way we think and are taught to think, perhaps it is time.

I believe we do have the power to stand up and make some noise – and that is a responsibility I can take on and feel proud of.