The first of its kind South Asian Women’s Network Conference in the New England area was convened at The Conference Center at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts on Sunday 6/9/13 with initiative from the United India Association of New England (UIANE) and supported by several organizations in the New England Area. The aim was to give a voice to South Asian Women on contemporary issues faced by them as the nucleus of the family in the US and develop structures for their holistic, physical, intellectual and emotional empowerment.

As the director and main convener of this unique gathering, Dr. Neela Gandhi’s primary objective for the conference was to highlight the various challenges faced by women and create an interactive network to guide them as support group, in their moment of crisis. With this goal in mind, this daylong well attended 'Conference' with about 200 people was divided into different sessions, headlining various needs of the womanhood.

The conference started with a welcome by Dr. Indra Mohindra, Dr. Chander Kapasi,  Mrs. Kanta Vaid, Mrs. Shobha Khetarpal, and Mrs. Prem Tanden and a prayer to Lord Ganesha. The conference was made possible with generosity of Novo Nordisk, Newton Wellesley Hospital, Starbucks, Cotsco, Whole Foods, Crest Oral B, Om Temple and Dr. Neela Gandhi. Other sponsors included Next Step Living, Noureen Mehndi Designs, Mrs. Ritu Agarwal from New York Life, Bollywood Delights, Apollo Travel and Tours, Mr. Gope Gidwani from A+Medical Supply, Khanaks, Punjab Mini Mart, Avni Fashion, Jasmine Anand Design, North End Dental Associates, Bibekananda from Morgan Stanley, Sondarya Salon and Spa, Bhavna’s Wellness Group, Ms. Donna Wyshak for roses and Somerville High School Print Shop. The delicious food which included breakfast and lunch, afternoon tea/snacks and dinner was catered by Bollywood Grill and Kulfi by Bollywood Delights was perfect for a hot summer day. The program book was designed by Neelam Wali from Printing and Graphic Services and Parvin Khetarpal from UIANE. The photography was by Mrs.Terri Unger from Unger Photography and Mr. Navneet Sharma. The Audiovisual needs were helped by Mr. Rashmikant Vyas, board director of UIANE and vendor tables coordinated by Bibekananda Das. The raffle was coordinated by Mrs. Rekha Palriwala and Mrs. Abhilasha Rathi. The event was promoted by Gunjan Radio, Sounds of India and Lokvani.

The subject matters incorporated for various panel discussions and expert’s counseling sessions were – Women's Health and Fitness, Domestic Violence, Family Relations, Caring for Aging Parents, Personal Loss & Loneliness,  Empowerment, Youth Session, and Money Management.

The program started with a presentation on Meditation and Spirituality by Sister Supriya from Brahma Kumaris and some Yoga breathing exercises by Pankaj Patel from Satsang Center. Bhavna Srivastava, while commenting on stress, anxiety and depression asked women to open up channels of communication with people they trust most and try to change the overall attitude to look at the things. She further elaborated that, “one should come to terms, as soon as possible, with the misguided notion of stigma most of the South Asian women feel about getting treatment for Anxiety and Depression”. She assured them that both of these conditions are perfectly treatable which can empower them to lead normal fruitful life. The health topics included Diabetes in South Asians by Dr. Greeshma Shetty, Weight Loss Management by Dr. Sajani Shah, Rethinking Diet with Ayurvedha by Dr. Pratibha Shah, Women’s Pelvic Health by Dr. Lekha Hota and Cardiovascular Disease in Women by Dr. Meena Sundaram. Talking about elderly parents, Jaya Asthana said,” a mature woman typically has to tackle three generations of people in family whose needs are varied. The most neglected among them are the elderly parents. She suggested being sympathetic to them, understanding their loneliness, and trying to assimilate them in all family affairs and community groups with similar interests. Hanishi Ali, partner at Mithras Law Group talked about Immigration status during separation and divorce, battered spouse and domestic violence victims, and death of spouse if marriage is terminated. Mrs. Gouri Banerji, cofounder of SAHELI and Mrs. Lata Rao talked about services offered by Saheli to survivors of Domestic Violence, Empowerment classes and support and friendship. The emcees for the educational program were Dr. Sapna Agarwal and Dr. Gayatri Vohra. For the afternoon youth session, the subject matter was bullying, peer pressure and merciless teasing whose undercurrent, according to Rakashi Chand, the moderator, is invariably gaining ‘power-advantage’ over other person. The discussion-participants for these currently hotly debated issues were high school children Pavit Arora, Amrita Vadhera, Rajveer Dhillon, Simran Heer,and Serena Arora, who felt credits of their own handling of destructive situations are due to self-confidence, hanging out with the right crowd and having her ‘Mom’ as the best friend in life. The second session of the Youth Perspective’s panelists included Monica Gill, Roshni Mirchandani,and Shiv Mundkur who discussed about cultural assimilation, marriage, body image, gender politics, and stress in college and how to build your self esteem and Confidence. Dr. Lata Mundkur and Shiv Mundkur talked about 101 Mental fitness, a method of learning meditation by incorporating audio entraimnet-based technologies.

Kay S. Khan, the Newton State Representative was the key note speaker of the conference. The panel discussion on Women in Entrepreneurship moderated by Hanishi Ali, included Dr. Radha Jalan, entrepreneur and CEO of Electrochem, Dr. Suraiya Shaikh, dentist and entrepreneur of Assabet Dental and National Dental Management  Group, and Mrs. Gauri Chandna, enterprenuer and owner of ATFS Learning Center discussed their challenges, success stories and advise to the audience. Nilanjana Rakhit, and accountant discussed the basics of managing finance, wealth creation and management investment/tax minimization and risk management with insurance, annuities etc. The panel on Women in Performing Arts moderated by Dr. Manju Sheth included Mrs. Ranjani Saigal for dance, Mrs. Eshani Shah for theater, Dr. Meena Sundaram for music and Mrs. Sunayana Kachroo for poetry and discussed what inspired them, their mentors, advise to people and how they used these talents for philanthropic work. The panel on Dress Well and Feel Well and Building a Wardrobe that Showcases the Inner and Outer You moderated by Dr. Seema Arora and panelists included Avni Trivedi, Roopam Arora and Neha Rathi discussed their inspirations, colors and styles of wardrobe and how to create a wardrobe to boost your confidence.

The evening concluded with a brief entertainment program, coordinated by Nikita Rao Punjabi, celebrating ‘Unity in Diversity’ as the theme for fashion show depicting different ‘costumes’ of different states of India by Shaila School of Dance, various dance performances including Jai Ho performance by kids from Bollywood Dance Academy. Poem on Maa by Sunayana Kachroo with Kathak dance by Monica Gill, Darling Seniorita and Dhol Dhamaka by Dancing Divas, Radha likes to Dance by Amrita Vadhera and Shaila  School of Dance, Karaoke by Neeta Datta, ghazals by Meesha and Dilip Kumar Acharya, Lata Mundkur and Ritu Sagar and finale bhangra medley performance by Monica Gill and her team. This was the only time slot for which men were invited. On the heels of grand success of this conference, the ambitious South Asian Women’s Network’ is already planning to have this again.

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