Spotlight Series: Interview with Sukanya Pushkarna
“You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true.” — Richard Bach
In this interview, Sukanya Pushkarna shares her journey and experiences with us, as a female leader.
Introduce yourself and your current role
Though completely non-corporate, I know the value of entrepreneurship. You don’t need to have that to support entrepreneurship because it needs all kinds of people in the ecosystem. I find value in volunteering for women — I’m interested in everything they do, the contributions they make to their environments, and the kind of talent pool they have. As I look at rural enterprises, it always shows that women are amazing. If we support other women, the entire world benefits. A little bit of change targeted toward helping women always make a big impact.
My experience at the Indian Women’s Association (IWA) has been that if you help women to feel empowered when they are vulnerable, there is a ripple effect on all family members and also the society. For instance, we know that women who have been primary caregivers in the family are particularly vulnerable when they are about to become empty nesters, coupled with the onset of menopause. IWA provides many opportunities for women in this phase of life to explore their talents, create friendships and support systems beyond the home, and do meaningful service that helps the community.
What drew you to support other women through entrepreneurship?
My natural tendency was to question things. When I was young, someone told me that I shouldn’t walk or sit in a certain way because it wasn’t girl-like. I pushed back because I didn’t think others should have the power to decide what I could or couldn’t do, or what a girl should or shouldn’t be.
When I wanted to be a pilot, my father taught me about advocacy by saying to me “While you may not benefit personally, your advocacy for women to be fighter pilots in the Air Force today might help another generation of women realize their dream to be one.” It was an early lesson in thinking beyond personal benefits that has remained with me.
I took up Chinese literature because many people perceived that to be difficult. I was fairly fearless and I liked to challenge limiting beliefs. I’m still open to anything that comes my way. My personal mantra is “always do what you love, or figure out a way to love what you do.”
Who are your biggest inspirations?
My father, Air Commodore TK Sen, is my first and biggest inspiration, with his ability to respect the diversity of opinions of his five children. He continuously worked on his own thoughts and actions even as he helped each one of us become our unique selves. He instilled in us a deep sense of self-reflection and a sense of responsibility for our own thoughts, words, and action. This has helped me find harmony and peace in my own world.
It was also my father who introduced me to the philosopher Richard Bach when I was sixteen. Bach’s philosophy became the bedrock of my emerging worldview, reminding me of what I could do to change what I didn’t like. One of my favorite Bach sayings is “you are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true.” I can’t just say that I wish the world would be different and not do anything about it. I still find myself quoting Bach all the time!
What lessons have you learned as a female leader?
The first lesson is inclusion, which comes from awareness and openness because we need every single person to make the ecosystem function well. The more we open our own minds, the better we can embrace the diversity in people and thoughts and this is essential to being an effective leader.
Another lesson is constant engagement in self-development. We cannot rejoice in others’ talents unless we can be confident about our own. If you’re not good to yourself, if you don’t know how to enjoy your strengths or work on your weaknesses, you cannot help others. You are able to give empathy because you’ve been there and gone through it.
What are some of the challenges, biases, or barriers you have encountered thus far?
Most women are wary of speaking up and disagreeing. If a person disagrees with someone and speaks out, it often seems like the worst thing, like a rejection of the whole person and it’s the end of that relationship. It is a risk because you risk losing support from your friends. Women and men are often uncomfortable around out-spoken women, but I strongly believe that one must speak up and it doesn’t have to be disrespectful. Speaking up in itself is not disrespectful, rather that’s how we bring about change. We listen to a variety of opinions, we learn to work with the team, we make decisions, and even if we make wrong decisions, that isn’t bad, we just learn from it. We must be able to speak up. You can figure out how to be honest and not have to be silenced or sacrifice your happiness. When everyone is on board for a more equitable world, it enhances the status quo for all, it’s not a zero-sum game.
I am happy to embrace everyone because I believe that there are no strangers, no enemies, and no other — it’s all just different aspects of one’s self waiting to be recognized. I cannot hate anyone because, at the core, we are one.
What is the greatest risk you have undertaken?
As I am naturally not risk-averse and have always had family support, I don’t feel like I have taken great risks. Pushing boundaries as a university student, or exploring China in the 80s on my own, I have sometimes put myself in danger unknowingly. My participation in a student movement in my early twenties resulted in a ten-day imprisonment and meant that I couldn’t apply for a passport or travel abroad for almost three years. But once I got out of it, I realized you can be brave and curious without being rash and reckless. I have always encouraged my children to study the world, the Middle East for example because they could be a bridge between the different regions of the world instead of being afraid to put themselves in danger while doing so.
During those days in my twenties and thirties, when I spoke up for gender equality, I didn’t get much support from even my girlfriends. After three decades, my friends have all come to their own realization that it is important for all of us. If you don’t like what’s going on, you have to do your bit and be a part of the change you desire.
Final words of wisdom?
“The world is always with me if I am with me”
I realized the power of thoughts and attitude quite early in my life. I grew up with poor health and was always in and out of hospitals, I also had many fears, feeling that the world was a bad place and it was against me. The moment that I decided that I didn’t want to have that negativity and feel sick and victimized, something changed. I listened to the world and got in sync with it. I feel I healed both physically and mentally and my world became a beautiful place.
