WADe India Awards & Conference 2016 was quite an interesting day to witness. Soon after registration in the morning the event was inaugurated by none other than the most powerful women legend Dr. Kiran Bedi. Lamp lighting was done by Dr. Bedi, Ar. Divya Kush, President – IIA, Prof. Krishnarao Jaisim, Ar. Prem Nath, Ar. Dikshu C. Kukreja, Ar. Sanjay Puri, Sarosh Wadia, Vice President IIID. Vertica Dvivedi, Founder, WADe India, introduced WADe to the audience. The panel discussion – Challenges for Women Architects/ Designers to start own practice in India and the ways to overcome had Ar. Shiela Sri Prakash, Ar. Anupama Kundoo, Ar. Sonali Bhagwati, Ar. Parul Zaveri on panel that was moderated by Anuradha Chatterjee. The power and zeal was visible amidst the most prominent issues that women professionals face and find their own ways to overcome those hurdles.
A Perspective: Being Celebs Designers by Sussanne Khan & Zarine Khan was quite energetic, insightful, and left a great learning point for all mothers when Zarine /khan said that life has no certainty and hence as a mother she left no stone unturned in making her daughters self-sufficient to cope up with every moment of life in a dignified way. Sussanne gave all credits to her mother for ensuring her sufficient space during her childhood and youth to learn and build herself in a strong manner.
The second panel discussion was not only interesting but also insightful for couples working together in family business. A Retrospective: From the successes of Men-Women partnership firms & women only firms had prominent panelists Lalita Tharani & Mujib Ahmed, Krupa Zubin & Zubin Zainnudin, Santha & Kalhan Mattoo, and Annkur Khosla. The fun-filled discussion probably brought a good amount of learning points for panelists among each other and for the guests. Ar. Raseel Gujral presented An Outlook: Importance of Integrity in Design that was had certain key-points as an important takeaway for professional women architecture and designers. A small session was there by Professor of Marketing, Ramendra Singh, IIM Kolkata on Finance & Marketing for Women Leaders in Design.
Immediately after the lunch, it was time for special entertainment when Vasu Primalni was on stage for her stand-up comedy. It was hilarious and full of laughter. Vasu is the recipient of Nari Shakti Puraskar from the Govt. of India. She is also one of the top 3 female stand-up comedians of India, Triathlete, and Environmentalist.
Though Chief Guest Dr. Najma Heptullah, Union Minister for Minority Affairs was not able to attend the event on health grounds but her speech was full of inspiration for the aspiring women architects and designers. There was an emotional an tearful tribute to German Architect and Designer Zaha Hadid by Ar. Sanjay Puri that was followed by the Award Ceremony. There is no age for achieving anything great in life was quite evident to see the all-age recipients of these glorious awards.