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Women of Distinction - Tinku Jain with Divya Gugnani — Two Women of Distinction – Tinku Jain, who is CHI’s first Woman of Distinction, felicitates the 2018 honoree, Divya Gugnani

CHI – Celebration of the Girl Child

It’s almost an annual rite of Spring – the Children’s Hope India luncheon in New York – where women come together to celebrate the end of winter with a joyous get-together which supports the girl child. It was all about women helping women and women celebrating women. This year over 300 women gathered at the Carltun in Eisenhower Park in Long Island to network and support the education of children, especially girls.

Children’s Hope India is passionate about education being the key to progress for children, and supports several schools in India, including the newly opened Children’s Hope India Girls School in Bhopal (CHI’s first all-girls, English-medium secondary school which will educate up to 800 girls), two schools in Hyderabad and one in Jammu.

The CHI board with Divya Gugnani: Nisha Bharwani, Maya Rajani, Radha Vanjani, Dina Pahlajani, Sagorica Rudra, Lavina Melwani, Kavita Lund and Kavita Gugnani.

Divya Gugnani with Hanifa Mezoui and Dina Pahlajani

The afternoon honored the serial entrepreneur Divya Gugnani with the Woman of Distinction Award for balancing work, family and social responsibility. Gugnani is the Co-founder of Wander Beauty, a brand focused on multitasking beauty essentials created with global inspiration. She received her award from Hanifa Mezoui, Senior Advisor, Humanitarian Affairs and Civil Society at the UN and from Dr. Dina Pahlajani, president of Children’s Hope. Gugnani spoke eloquently about how women could succeed in the fast-paced and challenging workplace while balancing their roles as parents.

Some pointers that she gave included this gem: “Intellectual curiosity is the single best indicator of success. If we want to grow intellectually, morally, socially, and spiritually, we need to ask questions and seek out our own answers.” Another tip was something many of us need to do but usually avoid doing: “Live life outside of your comfort zone. Being out of my comfort zone allowed me to survive, to evolve, and most importantly, to grow.”

Karuna Chani and Raakhee Mirchandani talk about the #MeToo movement

There was also a thought-provoking discussion by journalist Raahkee Mirchandani and noted makeup artist Karuna Chani about their #MeToo experiences in the South Asian community and how women could deal with it. Since this has been a taboo topic in South Asian circles, there was a lot of interest in finally acknowledging that this problem does exist in the community. In fact, Mirchandani pointed out a startling fact – two out of every five South Asian women experience domestic violence or sexual assault in their lifetime, versus the national average of one in four. As Chani observed, “ I challenge you to talk to your children about the topics your parents weren’t able to speak to you about. Protect them. Save them. All it is is a one-on-one conversation.”

Sagorica Rudra, Karuna Chani, Raakhee Mirchandani, Lavina Melwani and Moneesha Sani

Anita Dongre spoke about empowering women through crafts

The guests included women from two generations, an event where everyone came together to socialize, connect and help the cause of girls’ education. Indian fashion designer Anita Dongre, who is dedicated to helping rural women use their crafts in the fashion industry, was a guest at the luncheon. She has just opened a store in Soho so now the work of village women can be seen and bought in New York.

The CHI luncheon was organized by the benefit committee – Babita Advani, Milan Devjani, Aarti Kamat, Moneesha Sani and Madhulika Shroff, and coordinated by Jharna Jaisinghani of Artistic Affairs.

With the Luncheon Committee: Aarti Kamat, Babita Advani, Moneesha Sani, Divya Gugnani, Madhulika Shroff and Milan Devjani — Divya Gugnani with the Luncheon Committee: Aarti Kamat, Babita Advani, Moneesha Sani, Madhulika Shroff and Milan Devjani

Several women entrepreneurs had come together to create fun pop-up stores showcasing jewelry, garments, designer bags and shawls. These included All Things Artistic, ReeMat Design, Monisha Melwani Jewelry, Shabnam H, Shawls by Sonika and Lauren Cecchi New York. Everyone did a rip-roaring sale with this winning formula – women sellers and women buyers!

When 300 women shop for a cause, the results are always spectacular – the afternoon raised $ 35,000 for girls’ education. Bravo!