If you are not a techie in Bangalore probably you did not come to know about The Smart Techie Women 2.0 Summit held on March 10th 2008, and a glance at the title above might have made you think that this space is about the International Women’s Day (IWD) celebrated worldwide on March 8th. The tech world in Bangalore knew of the Summit and the better half of it took part in it with enthusiasm. Celebrating the spirit of the IWD, over 500 ladies from an assortment of IT companies based in Bangalore were in attendance in the Summit and even many from IT firms outside Karnataka were present, making the conference an overwhelming success.

A lot of women in India are entering the software field with digital career dreams, although not everyone goes all the way to the top. The Summit tried to delve into why it is challenging for women to ascend the corporate ladder either as a tech lead or a business lead.

The exciting Summit was thrown open at nine in the morning and the audience comprising of largely women and a sprinkling of men lingered on till late evening. Chitra Kasthuri, IPRC-VP, Alcatel Lucent; opened the event with her inaugural address. The defining turn about her inspiring autobiographical speech was reached when she mentioned, “Take up the responsibilities or activities that other people don’t want to do. This makes you different and whether you win or lose later, you stand to gain from the experience.”

The first panel on ‘Ascending the Corporate Ladder’ had Mrinalini Ingram, Senior Director, Finance, Globalization Center East, Cisco; Vidya Srinivasan, Finance Controller, Global Engineering Center, Sun Microsystems, and others speak on the importance of networking among women.

Sharada Satrasala, Director, Strategic Supplier Management, Texas Instruments followed with her keynote address and shared her practical advice for women to bloom in their career. “Work for the company that works for you. There should be a match for you and your needs along with the company. Cactus does not proliferate on the Himalayas nor does rice grow in a desert.”