Introduction
Every year,8th Mar is celebrated as International Women's Day. So, let me wish every woman out there, a very Happy Women's Day! I am sure that by this time you all would have come across today's Doodle dedicated to Women's Day. So, that adds to our way of celebrating this day collectively during an era of pandemic.
Before going into the depth of this article, let me introduce myself in brief. I am Swati Sarangi. I have a Masters's Degree in Electrical Engineering specialized in Power Electronics and a Bachelor's degree in the same(Electrical Engineering). I am currently working as Software Developer in Lascar Electronics, Hong Kong. So, my qualification along with the profession enables me to regard myself as a woman in tech. I have always been very interested in Mathematics and reasoning which motivated me to select Electrical Engineering. During my UG and PG curriculum, I enjoyed courses like Engineering Mathematics, Control System, Power Electronics, Digital Electronics, Electromagnetic Theory, Transmission, and distribution, etc. I pursue my hobbies such as writing, singing,painting, and cooking in my spare time. My constant hustle towards being a better version of myself never lets me sit idle!
My first encounter with Programming
During 11th class, I was offered to select between Economics and Computer Science. Being confused to choose between these two, I sought my father's advice. My father advised me to select computer science considering the fact that I had an analytical mindset that could be utilized in the devising logic of programming problems. The language that came by default with this selection was C++. I started developing an interest in the basics of C++ by following the textbook Computer Science with C++ by Sumita Arora. So, a woman in tech - Sumita Arora, writer of the book, immediately became my inspiration.
Women in Tech - My role models
There have been several women role models in my life, starting from my mother, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, teachers, friends, etc. Even though some of them might not be women in tech but they hold very special places in my life.
Apart from the women present in my life, as a child,I dreamt of becoming one of Marie Curie, Kalpana Chawla, Sudha Murthy, Indra Nooyi, Shakuntala Devi etc. They are women in Tech and always set an example for me to break the bias and go beyond the perception of gender inequality.
I have been fortunate enough to meet Mrs. Sudha Murthy, Chairperson of Infosys Foundation, and take an autograph of her in one of her books that I purchased with my first salary by working at Infosys. You can read my experience through this blogpost - When the storyteller comes out of the book. It's heartwarming to see someone like Mrs. Sudha Murthy juggling between different roles, be it an author, professor, evangelist, chairperson, mother, and coming out as the best at every role she plays. Through her stories, I got to know about her story of being the only female student graduating in her batch which is very inspiring.
My views on gender bias
There's no denial in the fact that women have faced a lot of discrimination on the ground of gender in accessing equal opportunities in the past but I am very fortunate that I didn't have to undergo any of such unequal treatment based on gender. Thanks to my family and society where I was brought up which did not let me experience such a situation but the situation is not the same for every woman. The cases of gender discrimination still persist in our society even though their number has shrunken as compared to that in the past.
#WomenWhoCode , #WomenWhoTech are among such a thousand initiatives that I have come across recently, which aims at inspiring women who are contributing to technology in various ways. So, Kudos to all women either in tech or not for being so wonderful!!
It's our responsibility to raise our voice against any kind of gender-based bias and stand with those who need support in this battle. If it's a battle of equality, every woman must be a support of each other.
In my opinion, an empowered woman is someone who knows how to create a balance between different roles she plays without sacrificing her aspirations.
Ending Note - Gratitude
Not for this day but for every day, I must never forget the countless sacrifices made by women of my life for raising me up as an independent individual. Wherever I am today or whatever little I have achieved I owe it to my parents and the women of my life without whose support everything would just have been a mere dream for me!
Edit 1-Thanks Hashnode for the Women's Day Gift.
Edit 2 : This post got featured in daily.dev
Edit: I received the T-shirt as swag from Hashnode.
