大象传媒

Morning Zoe and Happy International Women鈥檚 Day! I must say I love this year鈥檚 theme which is聽Break the Bias.聽It conjures up images of a diverse and inclusive world 鈥� sounds utopian but what would it take to make it possible?聽聽As a community, women have made great strides towards gender equality yet studies show that when a successful man talks about his accomplishments it鈥檚 seen as confident and yet successful women are considered less likable, even by other women.聽聽聽

For me, I never thought about having a career. Growing up in a Sikh household in Melbourne I was raised to be a good wife. My friends and I would jokingly refer to our education as 鈥渂ridal courses鈥� - something we studied to pass time until matched with a suitable boy.聽It was my duty to uphold this image of purity and it was easy to get lost in who I was expected to be versus who I actually wanted to be.聽聽At 23 I had an arranged marriage to a forward 鈥搕hinking, fantastic man who was probably the first person to ever ask me what I wanted to do with my life. I told him I loved singing kirtan and wanted to be involved in charity work.聽When I released my first kirtan album in 2007 I gained a reputation for breaking stereo-types and pushing boundaries in a male dominated, traditional world of kirtan. The contemporary sound in the album helped it reach a global audience.聽

What鈥檚 funny is that the album was recorded on a laptop at home and I had no aspirations for it to reach such heights or to lead to a very fulfilling and successful career. I wouldn鈥檛 dare to dream so big.聽聽This year I would love to hear women boldly vocalise their successes. It may sound like a small thing but I believe that as more women step into their magnificence and rise above the veiled pressure to play small 鈥� no longer waiting for permission or recognition this will help to break the bias and make it possible for more women and girls to reach for their dreams.聽Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh faith promoted equality for women over 550 years ago, I do hope to see the world he spoke of in my lifetime. A world where differences are valued and celebrated 鈥� a gender equal world.