ISB alumnus marches for women’s empowerment

By Team Marcomm Dec 01, 2017

One of the walls at our Hyderabad campus is no longer a plain wall. It has a colorful mural depicting a woman with a message that says ‘Her Voice Echoes in Her Silence’ telling a story. This story is of Srishti Bakshi’s dedication that is keeping her on toes day and night. An ISB alumnus (class of 2011), Srishti is on a mission from Kanyakumari to Kashmir covering a distance of  4000 kms, to create awareness and support the cause of women’s safety and empowerment in the country.

Done by renowned muralist Poornima Sukumar as a part of the mission, the message on the wall is about women empowerment. The team has been painting murals, each one of them featuring a message with the help of local volunteers in different towns and cities that Srishti is walking through. These walls have been conceptualised to come together as one complete piece on completion of the journey. The total number of such walls painted is about 30 and the 9th wall was painted at ISB’s Hyderabad campus. Students from the art club as well as several staff members came forward to volunteer in painting the mural.

Srishti was pursuing a career in the corporate world when she read about an unfortunate incident about a mother-daughter duo which made her to realise that women safety in India is still an issue, irrespective of who they are. Srishti then decided to direct her energy and mind space into supporting women and help them to face such situations better. It was then that the idea of this journey was conceptualised.

Srishti has named it the CrossBow movement and aims to meet men and women from different strata across 12 states in India as a part of her mission. During the course of her march, Srishti is focusing on helping women to become financially and digitally literate as she believes technology can be a sustainable and long-term solution for a lot of issues that women face and help them become financially independent too. Srishti is conducting workshops and sessions in every village, town, city that she visits.

Srishti came back to her alma mater during the course of her walk, where she interacted with students and conducted workshops. She also led a night walk in Hyderabad to highlight the message that streets should be made safe for women. ISB students, alumni and staff joined her in various activities when she was here.

ISB is proud of Srishti and supports her mission. We believe she is a role model for individuals who want to bring a change. A feeling reciprocated by Srishti when she said, "It always feels great to be back in my alma mater. The response and the support from ISB has been tremendous, as always. Thank you, ISB". She and her team will be at our Mohali campus in March 2018 as she continues her march northwards.

It is heartening to see the efforts of our alumni resonating with the school’s mission in making a larger impact on society and contribute towards nation building.