From Chai to Courage

A childhood dream came true when I sipped chai at one of India’s most prestigious landmark hotels - not as a guest, but as a participant in a transformative women’s leadership training. The opulence of the venue paled in comparison to the wealth of wisdom shared among a room full of trailblazing women. Each sip of chai, meal and moment, steeped in inspiration around the industry.

Initially it began as a professional development opportunity - later turning into a soul-level awakening. It wasn't the normal corporate training - the experience was intrinsic. An invitation to speak truth in a room full of women who knew how to listen, understand, and lift. It invited openness, reflection, and truth. I found myself in a circle of women whose eyes held stories like mine, whose strength felt familiar, and whose generosity opened spaces I didn’t know I needed. It was not about fixing us - it was about seeing us.

The brilliance of the training wasn’t in its designations or deliverables - it was in how naturally it flowed, how effortlessly understanding surfaced when women trained women. They didn’t teach from podiums. They whispered truths over chai and listened during pauses. And in those gaps, I found answers that I had resisted for years.

I arrived at the training during a phase in my life when I had already begun to redefine my happiness. Accolades and designations felt distant from joy. In our pre-work, we were asked to clarify what we hoped to gain, and I wrote - in bold letters - “I want to be the driver of my life.” It wasn’t just a statement; it was a declaration.

During one session, I spoke my truth. The kind I usually wrap behind my intellect and a bright smile. That day, it spilled out, and I wasn’t met with silence. Women I had just met hugged me like family. What had felt like personal failure began to look like shared experience. The same advice that I had received before from mentors, from other mothers, from a friend on the phone - but something about this space made it real.

There had been a relationship in my life that dimmed me, asked me to be smaller, quieter and submissive. Society called it culture; I called it a cage. And yet, as if the universe had been waiting for me to speak, a series of automatic incidents that happened in my personal life pushed me to ruthlessly prioritize myself and put me on the driver's seat - it was my breakthrough.

Not as a rebel, but as a woman reclaiming her truth.

And now, when I look into my daughters’ eyes, they see someone who is fearless. They know their mother is brave, that she will shield them from every adversity and walk with grace. They’ve watched their mother rise from the quiet ache of compromise to the calm power of self-worth. And most importantly, they've learnt, by her living example, to carry the keys to their happiness in their own pockets!

Neeta Devadiga