Women’s Conference 2015 – Moving Forward
The global advancement of women is as powerful today as it has
ever been. Women are encouraged to pursue their personal,
professional, and humanitarian goals with the support of one
another and their communities alike. This year BAPS hosted its
ninth annual Women’s Conference that took place at eleven
centers across North America to inspire women of all ages to
push themselves further in the pursuit of their dreams, while
making a commitment to bring other women along. The conference,
themed “Moving Forward,” focused on creating positive change
that starts from within.
On Saturday, March 15th, 2015 over 650 women gathered at the
BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Atlanta, Georgia to participate
in this annual conference. Moving Forward was held over one-day,
and challenged the audience to consider three key concepts:
compassion, forgiveness, and perseverance.
Opening with the topic of Compassion, Ms. Payal Patel, Assistant
Vice President and Division Director at Robert Half Legal,
shared, “Compassion is a quality that can be learned and
improved,” inspiring the audience through her own life and how
each individual should reflect on how they currently practice
compassion. Further she went on to describe how “compassionate
acts do not need to be a big display, nothing is too small to be
considerate towards others” and that “compassion comes in many
forms, but that it starts with our thoughts and our actions.”
With compassion, comes the ability to forgive, “But what is true
forgiveness?” asked Mrs. Manshi Patel MBA, to the audience.
Manshi shared her struggles on the roadway to learning to
forgiveness and how the ability to forgive has impact her life
and those around her. She asked the members to recall incidents
that have impacted them, and how those moments still affect them
today. “Every day of our lives the ability to let go, forgive
and forget allows us to strengthen our relationships, but we
must also wish well for others.” She urged the audience to
“remember that forgiveness is a skill we can choose to develop”
shared Manshi, “ [and] forgiveness is a gift we can give to
ourselves and to others.”
The ability to practice forgiveness and demonstrate compassion
help one move forward through life, but one must also persevere
to overcome the challenges and difficulties faced through life.
Dr. Jayshree Patel Pharm.D. asked the audience to recall the
incidents “We cannot rest after one challenge. Life will
continuously throw challenges at us and we too must persevere
through life’s challenges.” She created a personal connection
amongst all of the women present, helping to realize that each
of them are connected – “as a woman, we wear many hats –
caregiver, teacher, cook, and my personal favorite referee.”
With this mindset, it is important to realize that one needs the
right motivation and strategy to continue move forward in life.
The event included performances from Mrs. Mital Patel, a
Software Engineer, who completed a deeply moving abstract dance
on the concepts of compassion and perseverance through Kathak, a
traditional Indian dance known for its intricate footwork and
use of facial expressions. Ms. Yogini Patel, a current student
at the University of Georgia, also performed an intense poetry
reading, titled Yashoda the Compassionate, describing the
internal struggles faced when overcoming different experiences.
In closing to the conference, the keynote speaker, Dr. Nazeera
Dawood, the current Health Promotion Division Director at Fulton
County Department of Health and Awareness, motivated the
audience by creating an environment of introspection. Sharing
her own journey, she took the audience through a journey of her
pathway to overcoming the many challenges and trials she faced
by recognizing her ability to continue to strive forward. She
built an atmosphere of camaraderie amongst the women,
recognizing and realizing that each women shared power of
perseverance was within them all, they just need the right
strategies and motivation to continue moving forward in life.
Sharing her thoughts on the conference, Ashini Parikh, who also
recently worked as the Vice President of Global Marketing for
Edelman in Los Angeles, and was the Emcee shared, “By leveraging
our strengths, relying on our values and the lessons, and
recalling what life continues to offers us, we can go from
merely being stagnant to making it happen to moving forward.”
About BAPS
The BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), a worldwide
socio-spiritual organization in Consultative Status with the
Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, is dedicated
to community service, peace and harmony. Motivated by Hindu
principles, BAPS strives to care for the world by caring for
societies, families and individuals. Through a number of social
and spiritual activities, BAPS endeavors to produce better
citizens of tomorrow who have pride in their roots and their
rich Hindu culture. Its 9,000 international centers, including
more than 5,000 youth centers, support these activities of
character building. Under the guidance and leadership of His
Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj, BAPS aspires to build a
community that is morally, ethically and spiritually pure, and
free of addictions.
About Pramukh Swami Maharaj
His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj, the fifth spiritual
successor of Bhagwan Swaminarayan, has inspired millions of
people across the world to lead a God-centered, morally pure
life. As the present leader of BAPS, Pramukh Swami Maharaj
travels from village to village, continent to continent,
emphasizing the importance of family harmony, community service
and spiritual progress. His compassion for humanity, universal
wisdom and striking simplicity has touched many around the
world.
For more details, please visit
www.baps.org
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