International Women’s Day is an extremely important day for organizations like VFS Capital that run on the vision of women's empowerment through financial independence. While every year we celebrate the day, this year was different. This year, we decided to celebrate the day a week before the actual date. Why?

In early March, VFS Capital in collaboration with Jaico Publishing decided to host the Kolkata launch of bestselling author Tamal Bandypadhyaya's book ‘Roller Coaster: An Affair with Banking’. It was a grand affair attended by several eminent members of the financial industry, including Shri Dinesh Kumar Khara, Chairman of State Bank of India, Shri Soma Sankara Prasad, MD & CEO of UCO Bank; Shri Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, MD & CEO of Bandhan Bank; Shri Harsh V Lodha, Chairman of MP Birla Group; Shri Partha Sarathi Bhattacharyya, Chairman of Peerless Group and former Chairman of Coal India, and Shri D.N. Ghosh, former SBI Chairman and Chairman Emeritus of ICRA Ltd.

Even if it was not the formal Women's Day, we took the opportunity to felicitate a few of our women entrepreneurs during the event. Five of our customers were felicitated by Shri Dinesh Kumar Khara, a lifetime achievement for these empowered women!

I have always felt there is a difference between felicitating any achiever and felicitating rural women entrepreneurs. With full respect to others, rural women entrepreneurs have had to clear several roadblocks to achieving what they have; roadblocks that are difficult to envisage by those who have not traversed the path. Even after decades of interacting with rural women, there are always stories that surprise me today.

We come across many who had been married off before attaining adulthood, a majority even without any exposure to formal education. Those who went to school also might have dropped out after primary school and could hardly sign their name. A few fortunate ones might have passed secondary education and learned a few skills, handed down from the earlier generation. But all learnings take a back seat once the responsibilities of running a family and motherhood take over.

What hits me is that despite such hurdles, many refuse to kill their desire for a better and financially independent life. When they would have easily blamed their fate and accepted their lives at the lowest level of the financial pyramid, these women are even ready to pick up the gauntlet and get self-employed. All this fire without any guarantee of the next meal!

How can we compare them with others?

These are occasions that make me proud for standing by such winners and having been a part of their journey. Even sharing the stage with them is a matter of honor.