Navratri and real life Devis

This month just before Navratri my culture club organised this chat with 10 accomplished women. After a long time I was attending something like this outside of my corporate life that I left behind long ago.

This post is to document my takeaways from this terrific evening. These 10 Devis who shared their journeys with us and their wisdom which is extract of their accomplishments. 

1. Smita Jaykar who we first saw on TV as a news reader. She went on to be the beautiful mother of heroes on screen. Then surprised everyone by her spiritual turning point. She is very popular as an automatic writing expert and helps people communicate with lost loved ones. She has Siddhis of recognising a soul’s presence by the fragrance they carry or the food they loved. She can even see past souls is what she mentioned. A most striking learning from her is, “Spiritualism is the only way to survive in the current day”.

2. Dr. Prachi Jambhekar Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Education) This incredible lady who is managing 3 lakh students in the BMC Schools and making available to them experiences and opportunities that were once available only to the children of the well heeled. She has brought in the defense force to make available sailing to BMC schools and training students for nationals in sports. Her dream is to make BMC schools aspirational for the common public and not just the poor. Highlighting that education is absolutely free in BMC schools. 

3. Major Mohini Garge The distinguished army veteran who served for 10 yrs in the Kashmir region fighting against insurgency. She shared few stories from those days that made us gasp. Her message for us is ‘the enemy has infiltrated into our society each one of us has to be alert and be prepared to fight. You don’t know who is delivering your errands and peeping into the house.’ 

4. Dr. Aparna Bedekar who is a Vidya Vachaspati in Sant Sahitya. Her scholastic articles are published in many newspapers and she is also editor and author. Her talks on Sant Sahitya are eye opening. Some quotes that she mentioned are from Ramdas Swami about sharing information only where required and how much required! It touched a chord in me. When she mentioned about Jatayu saying his life is in his wings and that is what Ravan slashes off immediately! 

5. Janhavi Khandekar the Chief academic administrator at Parle Tilak Vidyalay. She shared the challenge she faces at the institution consisting of 1 school and 2 colleges. She shared stories of Conflict management and the unique concept of classrooms specifically designed for a subject. Though she mentioned that those who want to attend specific subject can go to those classes but I am not sure how the curriculum is followed or is their flexibility? Sounds intriguing though. This because in my school St. Annes we had maths sheets which we did on our own it wasn’t taught to us on the board. Our Maths teacher Mrs. Mala Sheshadri was a doctorate and taught at KC college too. Glad to see some innovative teaching in schools.

6. Sangita Patil of Kesari tours got this opportunity to market her company. 😉😉 Maharashtriya love them. My Dad had travelled with them and loved the experience. 

7. Shweta Kulkarni (FRAS) Dark Sky Defender (Asia) 2024. AstroPreneur and Dark Sky Policy Strategist. I as an environmental technologist am fascinated with her. ⭐️She mentioned switch off all artificial lights after 11 pm as our contribution to action on light pollution. We send light into the sky above us that is totally a waste. It is the only type of pollution that can be completely controlled through out the world !🌛

8. Captain Sonam SameL a commercial pilot. When asked about her unusual experiences. She mentioned that every day it is about decision making when there is a security threat. She mentioned about spotting 6 satellites 🛰️ circling the earth together. It made me so angry at that Musk Melon idiot who is making Space a garbage orbit! 😡 Hope he never gets a single opportunity in India. Saw him begging on his mouthpiece X. 

9. Deepa Sapre the stunning body builder who competed for the first time at 35 and won it ! She is a nutritionist by qualification and I found her very inspiring when she stressed on women building muscle to stay fit through life. 

10. Rupali Patole the one who built herself from living in an orphanage to becoming a sculptor and now running a cafe called Roots in Karjat. She has a scintillating clientele who love the sculptures and designs for homes. Truly mesmerising journey !

A special thanks to Uttara Mone and DSM TEAM for bringing us such invaluable opportunity to meet such Devis in real life!

Shubh Navratri every one ! 🙏🏽🌹