Interview with Preeti Virmani

SHARANYA:- How did you get into consulting?

Preeti Virmani: I had been working with PVR as a full time employee for the last three years. Given that I was almost 60 years old and had been working full time for the last 20-30 years in corporate life, I wanted to take a step back and do something more for the women in today’s workforce. So, when I was offered a consulting role with PVR, I was more than happy to take it up.

SHARANYA:- What inequalities have you faced?

Preeti Virmani:- As a consultant - None. This is can largely be attributed to the fact that I am older than most people whom I am dealing with. However, during early years of my career, one did face issues pertaining to gender inequality.

SHARANYA:- Do you still feel that education of girls is not given enough importance?

Preeti Virmani: Yes, especially when we look at absolute numbers. Though there has been a gradual change but in India, education is not universally recognized as compulsory. Girls coming from educated well to do families are being encouraged to be more independent, the uneducated rural mind set still remains stuck in the old groove where girls are meant to do house work, get married and there is no need for them to be financially independent. For people to change their way of thinking, it may take some time and would require strong policy and structural changes

SHARANYA: When you imagine a job like a nurse, people usually see women. How can we change that mindset as it is very deeply rooted

PREETI VIRMANI: Yes, it is hard to change a mindset as one has been tuned to think / behave in a particular fashion. Your mindset is not typically like a set of clothes that you can change instantly. The change has to start at the very grass-root level and be enforced by the society as a whole, over an extended period of time

SHARANYA: I don’t understand how the community ingrains these things in us when my parents have never shown me any inequality?

PREETI VIRMANI: This may or may not pertain to you directly, as your parents are well educated and do not make any distinctions in their mind.

In the less educated / lesser privileged homes, there are clear distinctions made as to how a boy and a girl are brought up. Historically, certain professions have preferred men over women or women over men largely due to their physical attributes. However, these lines are now fading as we move into a merit based / equal opportunities based system

SHARANYA: What you are doing to make the EWS feel more comfortable?

PREETI VIRMANI: During the current pandemic, I feel that we should try to help the less financially well off as they have been impacted the most.

My opinion is that you should provide whatever support financially or otherwise to the weaker sections of society, as their ability to deal with the current situation may be limited.

SHARANYA: What will it be like to live in a totally equal society?

PREETI VIRMANI: It is quite hard to imagine, but would be interesting to see how people behave in a society where there are no biases, no pre-conceived notions, no distinctions being made on the basis of religion, colour, financial background etc.

While a ‘totally equal society’ may be a bit of a utopian concept, one can consciously work towards building a society that focuses on providing a good basic standard of living for all and also providing opportunities, based on merit.